The Corners We Turn
by Foxissofoxy
Summary: Michonne's husband has had an affair. She always wondered why her husband Mike couldn't just end it with the other woman. The move to Kings County seem to be the cure for him but it becomes the place where Michonne wears her husband's shoes. (AU. OOC. Richonne Re-imagined)
1. Michonne's POV

**"** The acknowledgement of a single possibility can change everything."

 **― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays**

* * *

We had been partners for almost two years. The same squad car, same uniform and similar demeanor. He was pissed off at first when I arrived because the reassignment split him up from his original partner Shane. The rest of the department called me the one that broke up the marriage between the two friends from childhood. I thought the splitting them up helped to make them better officers instead of complicit in each other's bullshit. Separating them wasn't a bad thing. (shrug)

Shane was the most vocal regarding his displeasure. He didn't keep it inside or bite his tongue. The tall, talkative, self proclaimed ladies man, did everything in his power to discredit me, my work, including the silliness of filing a report with internal affairs. Irreconcilable differences was the basis of his complaint against Andrea and Me.

Andrea and I were part of the Diversity group. Our Diversity group was a Façade. We were trying to find the person or group that was supplying Meth with a purity level of 94.88 percent.

Sheriff Herschel wasn't any the wiser and Andrea kept him abreast of our role and progress in providing proper training, accountability and to dismantle the good ole boy system.

At first, Andrea and I were the only two that diversified the male dominated office located in the King's County Sheriff's Department. Numerous complaints had been filed regarding blatant racism, sexism, and ageism. I've yet to figure out where the ageism fit in because Herschel was about 80 years old. The age issue could work both ways.

Joining the force revealed to me that as a black woman it was going to take more than me to help diversify the King's County Sheriff's department. The introduction of Tara was another matter and she was part of the task force. Openly lesbian. A few people in the department assumed Andrea and I were gay. If I think long and hard about it, I know it had to have come from Shane. I placed a photo on my office desk with my husband and son to prove that a woman that didn't take shit, didn't bow down or cower to men, could love a man. I loved my family.

Mike and I have been married a total of 8 years. My career with the FBI task force had me on the fast track for promotions. I chose to go undercover. I had my husband's wholehearted encouragement and support. He wanted me to do well and stay safe.

I wasn't aware that there was more to the term Rick's Mich. Shane would often say it, and it began to take a life of its own. The term he had coined grew legs and ran off to become something, falling from not only his lips but other's who were privy to how close Rick and I had become during our time as partners. I tried to pretend ignorance or feign disinterest to no avail.

Things began to slowly piss me off though and being known as Rick's Mich wasn't one of them. My irritated state may have taken awhile to rear it's ugly head, but it eventually struck me like the day I wanted to hit him in the head and knock his ass out. Rick had officially GONE. MAD. If he thought for a moment his wife was Gone Girl, He was Gone Boy. Gone.

"What is your problem?" I had asked him on more than one occasion.

"I'm the one with the problem?"

"Yes." I gave Rick a look like I know I am not the first to tell _you_ this or bring this to _your_ attention. Like surely he had to be aware he had issues. Surely?

"Okay."

" _Okay_." I agreed with Rick.

I didn't expect him to walk away from me.

He was doing the walking away from me often enough that it ticked me off, especially if I was still talking. I'm not going to mention the time he waved me off like I was bothersome. That shit had my blood on boil. Who you waving off mother-...

We turned corners together. I had his back and he had mine. The corners we turn were done TOGETHER. Partners. Guns drawn. I knew his next move in tense situations and he knew mine. I didn't anticipate for him to knock Aaron out. Lights out, Man down. Meth dude down.

Aaron was an undercover agent I learned later. I hung his Superior by his neck tie for not allowing me a heads up to the situation. Cover could have been blown. It wasn't, BUT Rick was blowing his top, erratic, overly emotional about random shit until he finally stopped.

The silence was annoying. I thought Rick would speak up sooner than later. _Talk why don't you?_ I mean, If I had done something which I was 100% positive I did _not_ , I needed to know. If he had a grievance against me, this was his opportune time to grieve since I was ready to hear him out. I was ready to listen. I had no idea what was going on with him or what scenario was looping in his head on repeat. We needed to get this out into the atmosphere.

We were called to a domestic disturbance which was the usual fare or crime for this sleepy town that my husband was able to find employment even though he was over qualified. The bonus for Mike was that we were now closer to his family and farther from mine. He worked for the County Clerks office until we could one day get back to DC.

I wanted whatever bad air that was permeating the squad car to evaporate before Rick, and I arrived on the scene.

Our heads needed to be clear. His head especially. I needed to know he was okay, one hundred percent focused. Rick had the look of a man who wasn't well rested, and that alone could get us both killed. I had planned to say something to Sheriff Herschel about Rick's behavior if we couldn't resolve this by the end of that day. We were going on two weeks with tension. It was getting old and tiring.

"What's going on Rick?" I sighed.

"I'm not over it."

"Over what?"

"It."

"It?"

"Yes."

 _IT?_

I wasn't any closer to understanding him, and we were on scene. We had arrived at Carol's house where she continued to take an ass whooping from a husband that would one day try and kill her, but instead, on that particular day, Carol had shot him dead. He was sprawled out on the front lawn bleeding from a fatal head wound. If I could have, and if I ran the world, I would have made Carol a celebrity for all domestic abuse victims, BUT I followed the letter of the law and arrested Carol and read her her rights.

Shane was there within seconds of Rick calling it a homicide. Andrea was with him as they got out of their squad car to survey the scene.

Rick and I wrote our report in silence. It was weird because he would come over to my desk and ask me a thousand questions to things he should have the answer to, but he wanted to know how I would word this or that to make things clear that he _too_ was following the letter of the law. Our report was under review and then once approved, filed away.

We were back in the squad car. He was the driver this time as was our routine of switching off.

"Lori and I are divorcing." He seemed to have said out of the blue.

 _Marital problems_... _Okay_. I thought to myself. I felt now, we were getting somewhere. It explained some of his behavior, but it didn't excuse it either.

"I'm sorry to hear it."

"Me too."

"How's Carl handling it?"

"He's not."

"I'm sorry to hear it."

"He's acting out in school."

"Tough on kids."

Rick drove up to the drive-thru of our favorite place to eat healthier. He orders a burger with everything and mine without pickles. He paid. We ate in silence.

"I left. I'm staying with Shane."

The magnitude hit me like a ton of bricks. I was in mid-chew. Wiping the mayonnaise from the corner of my mouth before I felt like I was going to choke. I had to take a long gulp of my soda before I could speak.

"I am rewinding now."

"Go ahead."

"What happened?"

"What do you mean what happened?"

"What happened between you and Lori?"

"You and I happened."

"Rick..."

I had lost my appetite. Instantly my eyes began to weld up with tears after a brief moment of being caught off guard.

"It pisses me off that it doesn't affect you the same way it affects me, Michonne."

"What have you done, Rick?"

"I've done the right damn thing."

"What was that, exactly?"

"I told Lori everything."

* * *

A/N: I have been in the Tumblr trance. I am starting to understand it and that is where I have been for those who have been wondering. I am going to master it. I am. Oh my God I am.

Okay...

The Corners We Turn has the same nuance of The Devil Is A Liar without the craziness. I am only using One Foxyland Original Characters in this one which would be Rick's mother Ella. (Kathy Bates is how I envision her) The main focus will be Rick and Michonne.

This story is an odd love story and not a police procedural or a who done did it. Nope. I deal with dynamics, human behavior. We have excellent writer's in the fandom if that is what you are looking for or expecting. You will not find it here in my randomness of plot. This is Richonne Re-imagined. No real Fox Hole. Yes, Non-Linear because it is faster for me to write that way.

I appreciate all who review or just take a gander to understand my gibberish.


	2. Rick's Pov

"Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer."  
 **― Oscar Wilde**

* * *

"You need to cut it out." Shane closed the door to his locker that was next to mine.

"I'm not doing anything." I insisted.

"Sure." Shane didn't believe me.

"Why do you think I-"

"Because you like her."

I couldn't say any more to Shane after that. He wasn't happy that we were separated. I knew he was jealous that I spent a great deal of time with Michonne. She was my new partner.

Michonne and I didn't hit it off instantly by a long shot. She was very judgmental about how I was filing my reports, and I was not very open to criticism of any kind from her nor from Andrea.

She backed me up when an internal investigation was opened against me. Michonne having my back seemed to change things between us or maybe it had changed me in how I began to interact with her. I became less bull-headed, and she became more open to interpreting things from my vantage point. Her guide was the letter of the law without completely discounting the figurative glasses that I read from, she was my Mich.

I didn't realize I was saying a lot of Mich this and Mich that at work and at home. I was like a school kid with a new friend, and I wanted everyone to know how cool this friend was and how it made me cool too. The term was coined in the office, 'Rick's Mich'.

We spent a lot of hours together, and if I were to total it up, it was more than Lori and I spent together in our entire fifteen years of marriage. Very little to exaggerate. It was the truth.

Things got out of hand quickly when I realized that alcohol increased my inability to hide or tamper down my feelings that were growing for my female partner. I didn't want to go home, and she didn't ask me to leave.

Her house was nice. I had been over one time before when her husband and son were home. This time they were not. Michonne said they were out of town with Mike's parents to go see relatives that lived three hours away. She had no desire to be immersed further in country living. Michonne had her limitations. An outhouse was taking things too far.

We laughed over a few beers and we kicked back and watched an episode of the Walking Dead. I told her it was a good show. She claimed to not like Zombie anything but the premise intrigued her. The second episode she was fast asleep with her head on my shoulder. We were sitting that close to each other.

I'm not precisely sure how the kissing began, but it did. At first, I was unsure of what I was doing, but after the second and third, It was bright as the headlights on a Ferrari. This was going to be my undoing if I didn't get control.

"Can we just talk about it?" I asked Michonne.

I was hesitant to bring it up but it was something I wanted to make sure we were both clear about when it came to boundaries and establishing an agreement to not cross them ever again.

"Okay." She agreed.

"Okay?" I wasn't sure if Michonne was saying _Okay or_ Okay. Her variation had different meanings.

"Yes, Rick for the love of French Toast, _Talk_!"

"It can't happen again."

"Fine. Are we done?"

"You have nothing to say about it?" I was stunned by her response.

"IT was your problem that you didn't seem to be able to work out unless you made it my problem. It is not a problem for me to expound on if I wanted to talk about it."

"So it meant nothing to you?"

"Should it have?"

Michonne has a very cutting way of saying things. I began to second guess more than going with my gut instinct. The silence was thick in the squad car.

"Rick...we had a few beers at my place. We made out, and it was crazy irresponsible of both of us. We are both married with a kid and I agree with you. It can't happen again."

"I've never done anything like it, Mich. With anyone." My honest response caught her off guard. She finally gave me her attention. The way her brown eyes were just putting my heart in a chokehold, I focused on the squad cars dashboard.

"My first time too."

"I've wanted to do it for awhile. Never thought it would happen." I admitted more of my wayward desire.

"I've always wanted to know what kissing you would feel like too." I almost didn't hear what she had said. She was looking out the window on the passenger side, Michonne's attention was on our assailant running through the Trailer Park as I drove trying to keep up.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Hearing Michonne admit that she wanted to kiss me blew my mind. I was officially altered, and it wasn't something that could be reversed. Not for me.

I met up with her at the Honky Tonk bar and Inn, a couple of weeks later. It was on the outskirts of another town over from King's County.

Michonne wanted to learn how to country line dance. She didn't believe I knew how and I offered to teach her.

Shane was there with Andrea his squad car partner, making out in a dark corner booth. They saw us and quickly pretended that what we saw, wasn't what we witnessed. What they saw of us, Michonne and I were two people on the dance floor with others doing country line dancing and nothing more.

I have to say this... the way that Michonne moved her hips in those tight jeans and stilettos was more than I bargain for whenever her back was to me. She caught on pretty quickly, and some of the men took a liking to her. She was fun, and she didn't care if she missed a step or two in the process. She would quickly get the gist and appeared a pro. Andrea and Shane promptly joined in, and we all had a good time.

There was a character that went by the name Governor and another one named Negan who wormed their way next to Michonne at the bar each time she went to get drinks for us. She told them that she was married. Happily married.

"To him?"

Michonne laughed and responded, "Yeah. To him."

I was standing behind her when she said it. We both had on our wedding bands. We were giddy. Could have been the alcohol to explain our behavior. The energy was palpable. I didn't want the night of dancing with her to end. What happened at her home was about to happen again in the crowded parking lot. I walked her to her car. Shane and Andrea were inside the Honky Tonk dancing while we tried to consciously walk a fine line. I was teetering and waiting for permission to proceed. I wasn't going to refuse Michonne.

"That was fun." She commented with a smile that never ceased to mesmerize me.

"You're going to be okay to drive?" I questioned her sobriety.

"You have another suggestion, officer?"

"You mean husband."

"You want to be my husband?"

"You referred to me as such." I tipped my head toward the Honky Tonk.

"Well, I had to, or they would have blown our cover." Michonne winked.

"Our cover?"

"You want to be my husband right?"

All I could do was look at the woman who was leaning against her car door. My hand was on the handle to open for Michonne, but I didn't open the driver's door because she never moved for me to do so. I wasn't a hundred percent clear of what was going on either.

Was this role-play?

There were options I could have pursued. I could have called her real husband to come and get her. I could have called her an Uber to drive her home. At almost 1am I didn't entertain those options because I was pondering if this was role play? Please let this be role play.

"Yes."

I could feel my body tremble with need to have her. My lower half was already revving to go and the jeans I wore didn't hide my growing bulge.

"Then how about you treat me like you were my husband." Michonne suggested.

If I was Michonne's husband...

I had Michonne in ways only dreams were made of, and I never wanted to wake up.

* * *

A/N: I think I will finish this out tomorrow night. I have a third Chapter I will post in a second.


	3. Michonne

"Relationships fail not because we have stopped loving but primarily because we have stopped living seductively."  
― Lebo Grand

* * *

I had put the whole situation behind me after that night. It had officially gotten out of hand and coming out of the Honky Tonk Inn witnessed by Shane and Andrea doing the same was enough to make my stomach turn upside down and twist in to big knots.

Andrea was married to Dale who was in DC. An RV lobbyist of all things. Much older than her too. I could understand her and Shane, even though I lacked comprehension skills for my very own proclivities. I had no idea what I was doing nor why.

If I actually gave it the attention it needed I would have steered my naughty behavior to my real husband who wasn't into role-playing because he said it was weird and awkward. Sigh.

Mike was a man who wanted more, he wanted more exciting and random and when I began to give him things he refused them. He wanted me smiling more. I smiled. To him, it wasn't genuine. He wanted me in tighter more revealing clothes, I wore them, and I was questioned where the hell I was going or come from dressing like that. He wanted me to challenge him less and trust more...I couldn't do that.

I took whatever shift given to not be home to worry, wonder, or ruin a quiet evening because he would find me searching his phone. I broke the habit of doing those things because I went to work and enjoyed hanging out with a man that became my friend when I needed one the most. When I wasn't at work, I focused on my young son, Andre.

Rick knew exactly what to do with this very naughty wife because he was a husband that knew what this naughty wife needed.

"I'm glad you know who you belong too."

"Who do I belong too?" I'd asked barely able to stifle a moan.

"Your husband."

"Who's my husband?"

"The man who's is going to be so far up in you if you keep doing what you are doing."

I wanted him to watch me take it all in. I wanted him to not close his eyes. I wanted him to see me and enjoy what he saw as it unfolded before him.

The thrill. It was there, but I had the wherewithal to know that if we didn't stop, we could confuse things. I have seen it done with so many people in my lifetime and even to my husband in our 6th year. If he would have waited it could have been deemed the seven-year itch.

His infidelity was the real reason why we had moved to King's County if we were both being honest. Mike couldn't stop with banging his intern. I could stop with Rick and I did.

Mike and I are not the same.

It was my turn to want to talk about it. About what happened at the Inn could never happen again.

"I want to talk about it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Okay."

I could feel his energy. It was like we were sparking. Sparks flying everywhere. Electrical level and his tone didn't help. He was eager. He was okay with me leading because he wanted to be led.

I kept wondering what was causing him to bite his lower lip. All the times we spent in the squad car I had never noticed him doing it before. Our Dashcam was off along with the body cameras.

"I had a good time. I wouldn't mind doing it again. If you want, Michonne."

Right then I told him, I didn't want to do it again and we weren't going to do it again. It surprised him.

I had shut it down. I had to cut him off under no uncertain terms.

I began to overcompensate. I did my report and offered to look over his without him bothering me with questions about whether or not something was relevant. I bought the donuts and coffee. I paid for lunch if he had thrown away his dull lunches Lori made for him. We had to stay physically fit and I jogged at his pace or spotted him with the weights.

* * *

"You are aware now, right?" Andrea had her hands on her hip as she watched me have a less than controlled melt down in her kitchen.

"Yes." I admitted.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Hand in my letter of resignation."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I have nothing if I don't have my integrity on the job. There is a strict code regarding conduct and what I did was very unbecoming of an officer."

"What the hell, Michonne?" Andrea wasn't buying my shit.

"What the hell." I placed my head on Andrea's kitchen counter. My mind and heart was at war.

"Rick's wife came at you. She was the one to make a scene. You kept it classy."

"Rick's wife also told my husband. The reason I am staying here with you, Andrea."

"No one knows anything concrete. I am not going to tell and I'm pretty sure that Shane won't."

"I have to live with this." I lamented.

"You were planning on doing that if Mike would had never found out."

Andrea was right. I was planning on taking this to my grave had things gone the other way.

"How long do you plan to _not_ work?"

"I have money, Andrea. I may be a flawed character just like you, but I do pay my bills. I am not a freeloader."

"That's my peanut butter granola bar you are eating, though. It was the last one, Michonne."

"Well, you said I was welcome."

Andrea balled up a napkin and threw it at my chin. I took that very same napkin and got her back.

The doorbell rang. I didn't know she was expecting anyone and the look on her face indicated that she was having a little party and I was the last to know. I darted to my room leaving her right there in the kitchen.

"You are invited, Michonne!" She shouted my invitation at my back.

My response was the slamming of my door.

I made a beeline to my private sanctuary called my bedroom. With the door shut behind me, I was able to catch my breath. Breathe, I told myself. I was okay with my warped logic that avoidance, adamant denial, and excessive exercise would resolve my problems. I just needed to quit my job, Pretend nothing happened, and exhaust myself physically until I ached for sleep. Another option was to overindulge my son.

The continuation of my marriage was hinged purely on Mike forgiving me for my transgression. I had forgiven him. Overlooked a lot of bullshit because I wanted my marriage to work more than having peace of mind. The more that my husband pulled away, the more I was clinging to him. We were arguing a great deal. I laid it on the line by throwing past hurts in his face. I became outraged that he could make me feel like dirt. He had the power to do that, the power I should have never given him. I had absolved him of his guilt, but he could not do the same for me. He said he was done, what I had done was unforgivable. He created boundaries not only for me but for himself. Something I should have done. I should have loved myself more. The shit I forgave, he could not.

What I found to relieve stress other than extreme Cardio was journaling my thoughts.

"Hi Rick! I'm so glad Shane brought you along and who else do we have here?" Andrea was purposely making her voice carry. No one talks that loud unless they are trying to be heard, I thought to myself.

Rick was in the other room?

I couldn't concentrate. The laughter. The smell of food. Laughter and the sound of a cork popping.

I tried to focus on writing in my journal. It was useless to try because I couldn't focus when I could hear activity.

Then it all went quiet or the tones were hushed. I had to get up and press my ear to my bedroom door to hear that Rick hadn't come alone or just with Shane.

I could hear Shane. I knew his voice and his laughter. I didn't recognize the female voice. That voice was unknown to me and after twenty minutes of hearing the good time that was happening outside my door, I decided to step out to see for myself.

* * *

A/N: Updated this chapter towards the end. Thanks for reading.


	4. Rick

"I was steeped in denial, but my body knew."  
― Suzanne Finnamore, Split: A Memoir of Divorce

* * *

"Move on."

"I'm stuck. I can't just move on."

"She told you she's trying to work things out with her husband right?"

"No. You told me that."

"That's what Andrea told me."

Shane and I were in a predicament. My mother showed up out of the blue on his doorstep. She was dropped off by Lori who just drove off. My mother was under the impression that I had left Lori for Shane. I had it in my mind to have a talk with my Dad regarding taking away my mother's Television viewing privileges. In her mind, I had more of a connection with Shane than Lori in the first place. Shane and I were both stumped. My mother was visibly disappointed that there was no camera showing me coming out of the closet and her tearful coming to acceptance. One mention that WE were going to be late for dinner, my mother was getting prepped and ready in the extra bedroom. She was coming along.

"What in the hell are we going to do, with Mother Ella?"

"I'm not going to tell her. I'm not."

"We are going to be late picking up Jessie if we don't get moving."

"I am not going. You didn't tell me about Jessie."

"If I told you about Jessie you wouldn't come along."

"I didn't ruin the fuck out of my marriage to date other people, Shane. I didn't."

"I am so fucking annoyed right now."

"My mother is here. I don't want to confuse the hell out of three women. My mother thinks she is coming with us to Andrea's place. She is going to think it was Jessie. The only reason she's here is to make sure what had happened, why it happened and with whom. Jessie isn't the person I want attached to this narrative. My mother wants to get the story and report back to whomever the fuck is listening in the family."

"Oh, my God." I watched Shane throw his hands up. He was exasperated, and I didn't care.

"You know how she is and for the life of me don't give me a look like this is all brand new. If you want to tell my Mom that she is not invited to come along with us, then, by all means, break the news to her. What I am not going to have is Jessie in the same warp space of Michonne along with my mother trying to decipher it all."

"And why not, Jessie?"

"Because I don't want her. I don't want Jessie. I am so fucking in love with Michonne I can't see straight. I left my wife, and my son is pissed off with me, and I didn't do it to have a good time or to have you set me up with someone that wants to be set up with me. I am not going to confuse my mother any more than what Lori may have led her to believe about you and me."

"Fuck."

Shane finally backed off. I had admitted to him for the first time that I was in love with Michonne. I wanted no one other than Michonne.

"Never would have guessed there would have been anyone else for you other than Lori. Well, there was that..."

The lightbulb was on for Shane. He remembered something from high school. It started in freshman year. My very first crush was someone that remained out of my reach. It was how I moved on to finally find Lori, she was the only girl at the time that liked me back.

I didn't come to the decision to divorce my wife of fifteen years lightly nor did I have a clear vision that it was an actual direction I wanted to pursue. My judgment was questionable and could easily be seen as rash, or a midlife crisis. I wanted the separation from Lori. Divorce was a heavy word and a big decision. I needed time to figure my shit out. I needed space.

The only thing I could see was my every step that I purposely made into the gray area with my work partner. My words of stopping or ending stuff with Michonne was meaningless if, in my core, I wanted to be nearest to her and not Lori. I had nothing but my word, and now that everything was out in the open, I only had my word. My word had to mean something even if I had to be brutally honest.

Lori could critique my actions, but she could never say I don't mean what I say out loud. No misunderstandings.

"I want you to stop seeing her."

My wife had every right to request it and or demand it from me, her husband. I wanted to be clear about any willingness to comply.

"I won't."

"What?"

"I won't."

The silence was deafening between us. It was the only time where a person could almost compare life without sound for the briefest of seconds.

"I can't stop, Lori. I can't." The truth I spoke even though the words strained and twisted. I didn't expect to hurt so much to announce it. I didn't expect the tears to fall from my eyes that didn't fall from Lori's.

I was choked up about it. I felt deeply about it. What I felt for Michonne I had to express right then and hoped Lori would hear me out. This shit hurt. Awareness is a bitch.

"Maybe I can go a day. Maybe. Maybe I can take some time off of work or put in a request for reassignment for a new partner. I know what the right thing to do is. It is the right thing for you to have peace of mind, to sleep at night and busy yourself in the day without worrying about me trying to find a way to be with her without you finding out. The only reason you know about it in the first place is that I told you. You didn't stumble upon anything because I didn't want you to find out that way. You didn't deserve to find out that way. So to be clear, I won't stop and to say I will is to lie to you. The very fundamental thing that could keep us together is I would have to love you more than I love her. Do you know what it is like to feel something for one person and be obligated to another? I know, Michonne like the back of my hand. I am not saying this to hurt you, I am saying this to be clear, I will find a way to be with her."

* * *

The incident at Mabel's Café where Lori walked in while I was sitting in the back corner with Michonne was a tipping point. She was back on duty with me. We were partners on lunch break.

My back was to the entry. Michonne had eyes on the door. She sat across from me, and I was trying to steal a touch of her fingertips on mine when I handed her the eighth packet of sugar for her small cup of coffee.

She had already come to terms that her marriage was in shambles and it had really nothing to do with Lori telling her husband about us but more of how he had destroyed trust in their relationship and how she had tried to forgive him for it.

Michonne had taken a lot of time off from the job, and I missed her. Tara was temporarily assigned to me while Michonne tried to figure things out. I was glad that my Mich was back in the saddle with me. I realized that if Tara was my partner, in the beginning, the first time around, I think Lori and I would still be married. I would have never known that there was a woman like Michonne out in the world that could make me feel incomplete without her.

Even if Tara wasn't a lesbian, what happened between Michonne and me was more than hooking up, we had two dangling links that connected and that caused other links to other things with our significant others to disconnect, and we linked in other areas where we eventually became wired like jumper cables.

"I've got something for you?"

"It's not my Birthday."

"I know. I just wanted to buy something for you." I slid over a small box across the table.

"You know I like Gag gifts, but this shape is weird."

"No Gag gift."

I watched Michonne open the box to find a Citizen watch that I had engraved. She noticed it immediately on the underside, _Rick's Mich._ She handed over the watch to me to place on her left wrist as if she needed help. Two links removed and it would be perfect. We were with each other at the wrong time, but nothing could change my mind on how perfect she was to me and for me.

"This is bullshit."

Her response had me startled because it didn't fit the mood we had going between us. I followed her line of sight by turning my head, my hand at my gun belt to pull out my revolver.

Lori was headed towards us.

"Michonne, don't leave. We aren't doing anything."

"I'm out."

I knew when to back off or back down when it came to Michonne. Lori was another matter.

"I'm sorry." I apologized to Michonne as I stood up from the booth we shared to possibly cushion any blows that may hurl through the air physically or verbally from Lori towards Michonne.

The confrontation was for me.

"Out in the open?" Lori questioned looking at a retreating Michonne before squaring up to me.

Silence. I watched Michonne give wide berth and exit the Cafe without looking back.

"Is this your little meetup spot when you are both outside of the squad car?"

"You are making a scene, Lori," I informed her.

"I'm still your wife."

I placed a few dollar bills on the table and headed outside. We were giving a show to every single person who was dining.

"I'm stepping outside." I was walking ahead of Lori to the door. I held it open for her to step out first before I made way to where the cruiser was no longer parked.

"You said you were going to come by tonight to get the rest of your things." Lori didn't say anything about my puzzled look at the squad car heading down the road without me.

I had moved in with Shane. I wasn't sure about my arrangement with my best friend, and it wasn't necessarily discussed. He had a spare room, and I helped with expenses. Shane was hardly ever home, and neither was I.

"You can get a storage unit," Lori suggested to me. She was talking, but I wasn't listening.

I had to put my mind on pause and give Lori my full attention after surveying that we didn't have any spectators.

"I said I wasn't going to fight you, Lori. You want full custody, okay. You want the house, alright. All I am asking for is time to get the rest of my things."

"I'm giving you three days. I am keeping the mattress. You aren't to take the mattress, Rick."

I had to stop myself. There is a story behind that fucking mattress, and if I told Lori, she wouldn't want it but because it was something I needed she felt to hurt me was to keep that too. (sigh) I didn't say anything about the backstory to that damn mattress. What I had to do was to remember that this was a woman who was still my lawful wife, a former lover, and hopefully one day we calm down enough to be friendly in each other's company without inviting the town into our business. I had to remember that she was the person that I had betrayed.

"Alright."

"I'll be home. I will have the locks changed once you have everything out of the house that you want."

"Alright."

I knew that if we were in agreement, it would take the crazy wind out of her sails. Her demeanor changed. She didn't expect my response to what she was telling me she wanted.

"I found a job."

"Yeah?"

"It's part-time. I thought I start off small and then maybe work myself up to eventually going on to full-time."

"Lori, that's great."

I was sincere about the news of an employed Lori. It was great news.

"I know we need time to figure out who's going to have Carl from one week to the next and with School..."

"Nothing has changed, Lori. I'm still flexible."

"I may have to add counseling. Our son isn't taking this change very well."

"Everything will take time. I can talk to Carl some more about it. He knows he can call me at any time. I have told him that."

"It is really that easy for you, Rick?"

"What do you mean? This has been hard for me too."

"Then why would you do it? Why couldn't you just break it off? Why if this is so hard for you do you find it worth all this? This?"

"Lori, we have talked about this." The crazy wind was picking up in her sail. There was nothing I could do to keep her calm, her voice to stay within hearing range of my ear.

"Well, let's talk some more. Let's talk so I can have a full understanding of why? Why her? Why now?"

"I don't want to do this out in the open like this."

"Why, Rick?"

"Lori..."

The crazy wind had taken Lori up and away. What I had done was tuned out and walked off. I don't do public displays, and I have arrested many people that allowed themselves to get to the point of disturbing the peace. The only thing that was on my mind the farther I walked trying to create a safe distance from Lori was Where in the fuck did Michonne go off to? I walked two blocks and turned the corner.

Yes, I left Lori standing there. I didn't look back. If I had, I guess I would have seen her flip me off like every bystander did including Sheriff Herschel.

* * *

We had pulled in to our favorite place to eat healthier. I was driving even though it was supposed to be Mich's turn. I was pretty glad I was driving that day. I rolled down the window.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"Two Chili Dogs with cheese."

"Hell no." I shook my head.

"Rick!" Mich began to plead with her eyes.

"No. Pick something else, Mich."

"Okay. Fries with extra chili sauce and chee-"

"Mich, we have to pull an overnighter. There is no way I am going to have you kill me with gas."

"Really Rick? We are really going to have this conversation at the drive up speaker?"

I rolled the window up.

"What in the fuck, man." She does this crazy voice impersonation of Chris Tucker. It is pretty funny to see and hear her do it but I was serious as a heart attack. I wasn't laughing.

"Yeah, really. I am not ordering chili anything for you. You either get with the program, or I will have you standing outside this cruiser. I will drive slow enough for you to keep up but you will not ride with me, Mich." I had to set ground rules with Mich.

Michonne searched for something she was in the mood for, and we didn't care how many cars were behind us. People knew not to honk. They had to wait.

"Ughh, Rick."

"Ughh, yourself. You will thank me later."

"I only pass gas around you."

"I feel so privileged, Mich."

"Do you know that it took four years before I began to let one rip around, Mike?"

"It took less than a week for you to break me in. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Mich."

"That's how I feel after thirty minutes of eating cheese. That's how the gas bubble start."

Michonne has an unexpected way of taking me by surprise. Shane's the same way, and he seems to know how to pull women into his orbit. I don't think she realized that she was pulling me at that moment or that she had been for awhile.

"Reason why I stay away from Mexican food and Collard Greens." I had told her.

I could see that Michonne was connecting dots faster than anyone I have ever known. Her deduction and reasoning and don't forget her memory of things is phenomenal.

"You had fucking tacos yesterday-that was you? That wasn't the great outdoors, the paper mill from Florida breeze or sulfur from the Cows?"

"Mine is silent. Yours tend to make a grand announcement for the ears and nostrils."

The giggle turned in to full-on laughter. Michonne could always find something to amuse me. I was always surprised when I could make her smile or laugh. Eventually, we both realized that we both had a sense of humor that meshed. I couldn't help but enjoy watching her face light up. I loved the sound of her laughter.

* * *

We were going less than 15miles an hour. We were on the slowest cruise down and along the unpaved roads of the Red Neck Hollar. Meth addiction was a problem. The sight of them was reminiscent of the Walking Dead.

"I had a nightmare."

We had just discussed that kiss and how it would never happen again between us. Mich was setting me up to blame for this nightmare, shit. I accused her of the kiss, and now this was going to be my error in choice when I should have known better than introduce her to a show that she couldn't handle. I should have known this according to Mich. She has been having a nightmare five days straight after our couch incident. She can be so passive-aggressive. Accountability.

"You didn't have a nightmare, Mich."

"What would you call it?"

"You want to blame me for something."

"I had a nightmare."

"I suggest you don't go to the next episode. Season 1 episode one and you're fake sleeping through the very next episode tells me a lot."

Michonne knew precisely what happened in the next episode that is why I knew she was lying about sleeping. She wanted me to kiss her. She wanted me to turn the show off so I could fucking kiss her.

"The show has scarred me for life. He shot that little girl holding the teddy bear."

"It was a doll."

"A white Teddy Bear."

"How Much? Because if I am right, I want Lunch for a week."

I cut my eye at my partner to make sure she was going to bump fist which meant that she would honor the bet. My fist was waiting for contact. I wanted her to know it was ok to touch me if she wanted.

"If I am right then I want Lunch and Dinner for a month."

What? Wait!"

I began to doubt everything I remembered or recalled. Maybe it was a teddy bear? My fist lowered ready to retreat, but she caught it in time. Fuck. I knew someone in this shit hole watched the show and I came to a halt and motioned for the guy with the mullet to come over to the driver side. He was a meth cook that was now an informant.

"Eugene, do you watch the Walking Dead?"

"Yes, Sir. I read the comics too. The show sucks balls though. Comics are way better. Way better."

"On the show when the Deputy wakes up from the coma, and he see's the little girl in the parking lot, what was she holding before he shot her? Was it a doll or a teddy bear?"

* * *

A/N:

I know I said I would do this at the very beginning of a story...

Anyway, for those who are new to Foxland storytelling you may be wondering what in the heck is this about and why is it all over the place. Well these snapshots will show you how affairs begin or happen or how it is a lie that it just happened. Nothing ever just happens. What I am revealing to you is what is significant. It is not in true chronological order and if you keep your thoughts in a straight order this may not be the fiction for you. I appreciate all who have taken the time to try and re-imagine Richonne.

P.S.

What is the eventual take away about Infidelity in this story is what is consistent or true: vulnerability, acceptance, and how another person makes you feel.


	5. Really It's About Ice Cream

"It is not lies or a lack of loyalty that ends a relationship. It is the agonizing truth that one person feels in their heart on a daily basis. It is realizing that you are coping and not living. It is the false belief that there is a verse, quote, phrase or talk that will magically make you feel content, complete or not care. However, it doesn't last longer than a few days, before your mind and heart goes back to what it wants. It is the moment you realize that you left without ever leaving. It is the moment you realize that fear, shame or guilt is the only thing standing in the way of the life God meant for you to live."  
― **Shannon L. Alder**

* * *

I had discovered a lot about Rick. We spent a great deal of time together. I had no idea when we began to become touchy-feely. I know it was way before the first kiss on the couch at my house.

It was apparent when Rick didn't get a good nights rest. When he hasn't rested well, he is cranky. A big baby. His back muscles are tight, and his neck is stiff, those are the things he would complain about but do nothing about it. He waits for it. He expects for me to massage his shoulders and neck, claiming no one does it better than me. I give him a love tap on the back of his head, "Ow, Mich."

"What hurt worse, that love tap or that knot that loosened around your spine?"

"One more minute, Mich."

"That was two minutes ago. You have used up your minute."

"Twenty bucks. Please?"

He was prepared to pay for my time. What I was offering was free. The advice I was ready to provide was invaluable.

"How about four grand for a better mattress."

"What?"

"I have one. You don't hear me complain about aches and pains."

"Maybe I need to sleep in your bed."

"Where's Mike?"

"On the other side of you. I'm not sleeping next to him."

What he said was interesting to me. I had an instant kinky thought and before I could think about what I was going to say I had already put it out there.

"I wonder if he would watch?"

"Watch us?"

Rick was confused. He's generally confused or befuddled by random things. It had become a side of him that I found sweet, if not sexy.

He was quiet for thirty seconds too long. I noticed him shift a bit in the driver seat. We were at a red light.

"He can watch. I don't think I want him to participate."

Rick caught my drift. He wouldn't look at me. He was blushing.

"To bad you would be sleeping." I reminded.

"I'm not a heavy sleeper."

"I can see that."

"How?"

"A poor mattress. Lots of sounds."

"Boxspring. We have had it in the family for over 40 years."

"What kind of country bumpkin hell?"

 _Forty fucking years?_ Who is handing down slept upon mattresses and accepting it was something my mind had never encountered. Such unfathomable fuckery in Kings County never ceased to amaze me.

"How old are you, Rick? Is that mattress older than you?"

"How old are you, Mich?"

"You know there have been advancements in the mattress industry?"

"You don't say?"

"I can't imagine what your mattress is like. The amount of noise it could make."

"Simple tossing and turning and sitting up. Doesn't take much."

"Is that all you and Lori do, toss and turn and sit up?"

"I guarantee you that if you were Sleeping in bed with us, Lori wouldn't be game to watch."

"I would expect her full participation."

There was a ten-second pause. He was blushing more than ever. I spied that he was trying to distract himself. He began to tinker about touching the console and adjusting the volume to the radio to make sure we could hear but not heard.

"You've ever been with a woman?"

"Why?"

"Curious."

I had his attention. He didn't get the verbal answer that his ears were waiting for so he thought it would be available on my face. Mum was the word. I found that I like teasing him.

We were finally standing inside of a mattress store outlet where we were greeted by an overly enthusiastic salesperson. Rick and I were lying there on our backs. I think my partner was able to finally comprehend the difference between his forty-year-old mattress and the one we were testing out.

"I love your mattress, Mich. I just can't afford your mattress."

I responded solemnly, "I know. I'm very expensive. But you may need to just lay back. You just may change your mind. It's worth trying to figure out how to get me home. You will figure out who to beg, borrow, or steal from."

"Has to be one hell of a mattress to reduce me to nothing more than a panhandling, indebted thief."

"Shut up and lie back."

We were both dumbstruck when the salesperson chimed, "You will be amazed what people would do for a good lay."

* * *

She's still pissed off at you?"

"Yep."

"She's still pissed after sleeping on it?"

"She felt she should have been part of the buying experience. Lori said I was crazy for paying that kind of money. I told her crazy is allowing myself to be and feel miserable every day where the seat in this damn squad car is more comfortable than our own bed. I wasn't going to keep pleading with deaf ears."

"What are you going to do?"

"Continue to sleep like a damn baby."

"You finally look like a man that has been sleeping well."

"Damn straight."

"No massages needed anymore."

"You miss touching me don't you?"

"You miss me touching you."

I was going to put him on ignore, but I realized he was taking this somewhere based on watching his face turn slightly pink, more so around his neck and ears when we held eye contact with each other. Something was changing about our dynamic, a noticeable shift this time. The only thing I could compare it is that you know something is hot, but you want to touch it anyway. The closer you get you feel the warmth, and you want more of it because it feels good. Your mind warns you of the danger, but you keep stepping a little closer, reaching, hoping something, anything will draw you back, pull you away, bring you to your senses.

"You like having your hands all over my back." Rick had continued.

"Neck and shoulders, Grimes."

I eyed the radio to make sure we could hear the dispatcher but not be overheard by anyone like the last fucking time. I couldn't tell for sure. I didn't want to check and have a flagrant green light blazing in Rick's face.

"You've massaged my back before, Mich."

"Neck and shoulder only, sir. Stick to the script. We've worked together long enough to know what could be construed as inappropriate behavior."

"You have nice hands."

"Verging on Highly Inappropriate."

"I only said you have nice hands."

"Keep my hands off your mind, sir."

Rick...(sigh) He finally caught on.

"I had already made sure, Mich. No one can hear us." He gave me the same look that I gave him, like I was the slow one to catch on.

"You must have done that when I was inside our healthy eating joint."

He nodded.

"Those windows are really fogged. A lot of rocking."

We were parked watching two people go at it inside of old Ford Mustang that belong to Daryl Dixon. I had reviewed his age and rap sheet. He was a little too OLD to be at a make-out point, and I was curious as hell who would be crazy enough to fuck a man that was released from prison less than 24 hours ago. I imagined what she looked like. I gauged her age based on the photo of his mug shot that appeared on my screen. I pictured her to look like some biker babe or a waitress at the Red Neck Hollar Saloon. I had to put one of those bitches face down on the bar, her name was Jadis.

"When was the last time you had sex in a vehicle?" I asked him.

"Almost twenty years ago. You?"

"Never."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Never?"

"I wasn't that type of girl."

"Type of girl?"

"Twenty years ago would make me about 15yrs old. I repeat I was not that type of girl."

"Straight-laced?"

"All the way to include the very top button of my school uniform blouse and sweater."

"You went to private school?"

"All Girls Academy of Excellence."

"You ever make out with a girl?"

"What is this? Do _you_ want to fuck me or the idea that I might get it on with Lori that butters your toast? I'm confused by you. I am not a lesbian. I am not Bi. Do I have anything against it, no? Do I find other women attractive, yes? Enticed enough to sleep with one, no."

"I had a dream about you, last night. I did have a dream that you and Lori were getting it on. I was standing there watching but not for long. I had just walked in on you two together and-"

"And what?"

I was all ears. I wanted to know this dream. I would always tell Rick mine. It was finally time he gave me something. Plus his was way juicier than my Walking Dead Nightmares. Every time our asses had to travel to the Red Neck Hollar would trigger them.

"She had her face buried between your legs. I grabbed her by the ankles and tossed her to the floor."

"What? Wait? What?"

He was quiet for 60 seconds too long. I knew he was embarrassed and I wanted to know more about this bullshit dream.

"If I had someone trying to eat this Big Kat and a mother fudge came and stopped the show, please tell me this dream had a gun involved, and it was in my hand, and I pulled the mother fudge trigger. I shot you right, Rick? Please tell me I at least cussed you out?"

Out of respect, Rick was okay with the word fuck and fucker. He didn't like when the mother was added to the front. A few months back I got his okay to say fudge. MotherFudge.

" _I_ wanted to eat your Big Kat, Mich. I wanted to be the only one. I didn't like the idea of sharing."

Let's just say I was shocked. What he said surprised me. The whole everything about his sordid dream and just the snippet of thought he had about it was too much for me to process immediately to have a response. Another thing that surprised me was to see a black woman step out of the Mustang we had under surveillance, rearranging her clothes.

"Who in the hell is she?"

"Sasha Brown. They have been off and on for a while."

Rick showed me the woman's Bio. She had a record as long as Daryl's. I had this shit all wrong and I am glad that I didn't say anything out loud because Rick would have rubbed my brain in my own faux paus.

Ease was created between us at some point. Specific topics began to be icebreakers and based on the responses we kind of gave each other a footing to step the game up.

"When I am close I am like a marching band."

"Loud, huh?"

"Are you quiet? Mike's quiet. He freezes when he get's to the end of the parade."

"He's always been that way?"

"Mostly. I have to tell him to make some sound to my sound, and when he does, it gets weird. He goes back to silent mode."

"He was a quiet masturbator that's why."

"I'm not following."

"Was he the only child? Did he have to share a room?"

"Two brothers. Bunk beds and a Twin. Same room."

"He had to be quiet when he was jacking off. Trained."

"Ah. Interesting. You?"

"I've only been with Lori. It's been so long. I think we have both become quiet...passive."

"I've got to make sounds. Even when it isn't that good, enough sounds makes it good enough. Quiet sex? I don't know. What the heck? I am going to work myself up to a happy ending and if I am a one member marching band so be it."

He was laughing at me, and I didn't care. I was serious. I owned several vibrators, and whatever Mike couldn't do, I had something that guaranteed the tingling sensation.

* * *

Andre was in bed. He was happy that I was able to tuck him in. I was really thankful to make it home in time to see him off to sleep after reading that last word to a Winnie the Pooh Story.

I was horny as hell. All I kept doing was thinking about that kiss on the couch and the way his tongue entered my mouth. He was going to devour me, and I was going to allow it to happen if it wasn't for my house phone ringing announcing that they had made it safe and Andre wanted to talk about his day. It ruined the mood and Rick left. I opened the door and watched him walk out to go home. What happened between us I didn't want to talk about because it was all that I was thinking about. I was thinking about Rick. Unlike my husband Mike, I could stop. I knew it was wrong. And with Rick setting down boundaries that I also agreed to, this was going to be a cakewalk. We were on the same page to not repeat it.

Mike and I were going on three weeks with no sex. He still patted my ass or hugged me from behind in the morning. I was so glad that he initiated sex. I was hungry for the closeness. I needed a warm body. I wanted that connection that we couldn't seem to get back even though we were actively trying to keep our marriage afloat.

Every thrust I thought of Rick. Every single pounding I received, I fantasized that it was him breathing heavily in my ear, kissing me on the back of my neck, my dark nipples between his pink lips. I wanted to scream for him to GIVE. IT. TO. ME! I wanted to call out his name-RICK...it was the first time in my life I orgasmed silently.

I had two back to back orgasms that night. I felt insatiable. I couldn't understand why I wasn't satisfied. My body still burned and ached for my blue-eyed bowlegged partner. Why wasn't I sleeping like a baby? I checked the time. It was 11:35pm Mike was already snoring.

I began to text...

 **Mich:** Talk to me

 **Rick:** Hey

 **Mich:** I can't sleep.

 **Rick** : Close your eyes

 **Mich:** I have. It's not working.

 **Rick** : What do you want me to do?

 **Mich:** Tell me one of your boring stories.

 **Rick:** My stories are exciting.

 **Mich:** Waiting for the exciting story

 ** _Rick:_** Well...I have this partner

 **Mich:** What type of Partner?

 **Rick:** Work Partner. We've been together almost two years.

 **Mich:** Guy or Girl

 **Rick:** Woman- female

 **Mich:** Okay.

 **Rick:** I think I like her more than my original partner, Shane

 **Mich:** You should.

 **Rick:** I should?

 **Mich** : Because she likes you.

 **Rick:** I think there have been times when things aren't reciprocated.

 **Mich:** This is different

 **Rick:** Very different

 **Mich:** Why do I find this story scary and exciting?

 **Rick:** Probably because you met your match.

 **Mich:** I'm hungry.

 **Rick:** Bad idea at this hour.

 **Mich:** I'm going to Walmart.

 **Rick:** At this hour?

 **Mich:** Yes.

 **Rick:** Without back up?

 **Mich:** I don't think you want dark double chocolate honey fudge

 **Rick:** Is there such a thing?

 **Mich:** You will be amazed.

 **Rick:** Every day. With you never a dull moment.

 **Mich:** At least not for one of us.

 **Rick:** Where's Mike?

 **Mich:** Snoring.

 **Rick:** Tell him I said hello.

 **Mich:** He said to fuck off.

 **Rick:** LOL

 **Mich:** He wants to know why are you chatting with me after work hours?

 **Rick:** His wife started it.

 **Mich:** Blame me?

 **Rick:** You did text me during sleep hours

 **Mich:** Why weren't you sleeping?

 **Rick:** Like you I have someone snoring

 **Mich:** She snores?

 **Rick:** Allergies

 **Mich:** I wonder what's Mike's excuse?

 **Rick:** Overexertion?

 **Mich:** Doesn't take much

 **Rick:** Wonder what it would take to get your snoring.

 **Mich:** I don't snore. I'm getting in my car.

 **Rick:** Okay. Your partner in crime is going to call you in less than 15 seconds.

I hadn't washed Mike off of me, and this was unusual. I wanted to make a quick run to the store and get some ice cream. That was my intentions. I have no idea where my mind was at this time. I answered his call on the first ring as I drove.

"Hey Mich, which place you plan to perform this Rich extra chocolatey fudge honey heist?"

What you just described is the very reason why I help you with your report. I'm performing a legal removal of a pint of dark double chocolate honey fudge from Walmart. I will exchange cash for product. "

"You love Walmart."

"I do."

"They wouldn't hire you."

"If I were in dire need of employment I would hope I could apply as Theft Prevention Officer."

"How does that mind of yours work, Mich." He was laughing. He was doing a lot more of it and caused me to smile talking to him.

"My mind seems to amuse you of late. I've been keeping you in awe for a while now it appears."

"What's intriguing you about me?"

"The way your uniform fits.

"What?"

"Sometimes it looks like you have an ass and the other times I am not positive."

"My ass interest you? All this time I thought it was my sparkly personality."

"Not the case."

"I have an ass. I am not sure how much of an ass you are looking for or how much you want me to have to appeal to you."

"Your uniform leaves things to one's imagination. One minute it is there and the next minute it vanishes."

"Ha Ha. I think I will allow you to perform one pat down. I hope to prove I do and for you to satisfy your curiosity."

"Where's Lori?"

"I told you where."

"Tell her I said hello."

"She wants this to be my last time talking you through an ice cream raid."

"I've changed my mind, Heist. I'm taking the whole freezer this time."

"You will give yourself away, no doubt about it."

"How's that?"

"You will leave all the plain vanilla. How far away are you?"

"Turning in now. Should take me about five minutes to run in and out, Rick. I Promise."

"Just admit that you are at Walmart for more than the chocolate ice cream. You want vanilla scooped, and I am not sure if it is in a bowl or cone or as is. The sooner you admit to it the better off we will both be trying to figure this shit out."

"I'm sticking with chocolate. I have no idea why I've been craving vanilla."

"Park your car, Mich."

Rick was standing in the very exact lane I was driving up. Our eyes locked and he disconnected the call. He was at Walmart waiting for me.


	6. I Would Take You To Montana

"I fell in love with you because there was a mischief in your eyes."  
― **Michka Assayas, Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas**

* * *

I arrived home in time to play a few rounds of a PS4 game with my son Carl that night before he had to go to bed. It felt good to be home with him and for us to have a couple of hours together.

The moment I left his bedroom, what I thought I shutout was back in the forefront of my thoughts. Mich.

I wanted to text Mich to ask if she had said a big Kat, fat Kat, or chocolate Kat?

Lori was in the other room on the phone with her family, laughing about something or another. I slipped into our bedroom, got my laptop out and began watching porn. I searched for porn that had Black women. African American women. I seemed to score at finding something to give me an idea, called White men like Black ass, tits and pussy. I had only been with a couple of people before Lori and no one since we said our 'I do's'.

I was curious. A woman of color was strangely different to what was the norm for me. The breast was every variation of what I have imagined, but the shades were fascinating. I quickly found I had a preference for darker skin, similar to Michonne's. I had a hardon that I was shielding from view using my computer propped on top.

The moment Lori appeared in the bedroom I closed my laptop lid and tore away the headphones from my ears.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

There wasn't any thing more said after that. I placed everything on the nightstand, turning the light out on my side of the bed while Lori snuggled close to me. I think she was beginning to accept that the new mattress provided a much better nights rest. With her back to me, I pulled her panties to the side and started to stroke a fire that burned hotter than ever. I imagined my face buried in the back of her dreads inhaling the skin on the back of her neck. I could see no one but Michonne. I imagined the sounds she would make and how she would want me to match my sound to hers.

"Oh, yes. Ah. I want you. I want you. Yes."

I lifted Lori's hips from the mattress to create an angle that I needed to keep pace with my impending eruption. I wanted to cum but I fought it until I couldn't, and even then it wasn't enough. I kept going and going...until I shouted out, "I. Want. To. Give. This. To. You..."

Lorie was fast asleep. I couldn't sleep. I had this ache. I had this need that wasn't satisfied. I wanted Michonne like I have never wanted anyone in my life.

I wanted the person who was texting me at 11:36pm. I wanted the person that was requesting me to talk to her. I wasn't surprised by this. We have been doing this random texting often. It was like we knew we should disconnect from each other when we were not on the job, but it was hard to do.

I hadn't even washed Lori from my body. My mind was on finding away to Michonne. I had thrown on a pair of sweats and a random T-shirt and she arrived dressed similar to me. I had opened her car door and before she could get out I leaned in and kissed her. To taste her.

Her hands were all in my hair mine finding her dreads amazingly soft in comparison to what I imagined. I got a mouthful of chocolate and I couldn't get enough. She suggested we walk it off inside of Walmart. She followed my gaze to my tented sweats. The way she licked her lips, I wasn't going walking around Walmart not when my dick was going to walk me. Mich literally went inside of Walmart without me. I waited in my truck. I followed her to her house to make sure she arrived safely inside before heading home. Goddamn that woman could kiss.

Mich: Why are you texting me?

Rick: How much longer?

Mich: I don't know Rick.

Rick: You do know Michonne.

Mich: He had just sprung this shit on me. I didn't know.

Rick: Where is he?

Mich: In the car driving. We are pulling up to your house.

Rick: I thought you were going to some show?

Mich: I did too. I got all dressed up. He's asked me why I was over doing it. Now it makes fucking sense.

Rick: How does he not remember?

Mich: Because he doesn't care.

Rick: I know what today is, Mich. But my wife has gone to a lot of trouble.

Mich: I don't want to come to your house, Rick but I am at your house.

Rick: I am on the same page and if she hadn't gone to all the trouble of cooking I would...

Mich: Would what?

Rick: I got two tickets. It's not for tonight. It's for Saturday night. If you want to still go or ...

My wife opened the front door.

Michonne never set firm boundaries that we both wanted to adhere to. We would just move the line a little further angled more to the left than right, and we would casually cross the imaginary line without hesitation- the very next day. It was beginning to be useless.

Lori had ran into Mike in town. My wife had invited, Mike to dinner. Mike was to tell Michonne. Michonne and I were obviously the last to know. The news was sprung on me at the very last second. I thought Lori was joking but she wasn't, the meal she prepared was an indication that she was very serious. My nerves got the better of me. It was my reason for texting, Michonne. I was overly paranoid. Less than 48 hours ago I was in the Walmart parking lot making out with Mich, and now I would have Michonne _and_ her husband in my home for dinner? I was sweating bullets watching them step through the open front door where I prepared myself to greet them, happily inviting them inside our modest home.

I had never seen this side of Michonne that I saw that night. She was dressed, she had a little makeup on, nothing that was overdone, her hair wasn't in a bun, it was down like it was in the Walmart parking lot. The dress, the heels and the way the air was perfumed with a different fragrance that was soft, pleasing to my senses, I could barely take my eyes off of her. This woman was out of my league, and I didn't care.

Her husband Mike droned on about his political aspirations, and my wife Lori kept him going with her many questions about politics and his DC connections. I tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible with Michonne. I knew this was not how she wanted to spend her anniversary.

* * *

The morning after the Walmart Rendezvous, Mich and I were like two teenagers crushing over each other. We had to keep busy and distracted. Everything was chaotic and we were dispatched all over town. We finally got a moment towards the end of the day to step out and step back.

"How was your ice-cream?"

"Never knew vanilla could light up my taste buds."

"I really like Double Dark Chocolate honey fudge."

"Broadening your horizons."

"You still haven't told me how you want your vanilla scooped."

"Cone. Piled in deep, overflow. I like licking."

"How about biting?"

"When I'm down on the cone?"

I had to shake my head. I had to distract myself because my hardon was evident and I needed to shift. I wanted to discuss a hotel room but I had never done what we were doing with anyone in my life. I didn't want sneaking off for an hour. We would have to plan this out carefully.

"Are you able to take any time off?" I had asked Michonne.

"What are you thinking?"

"You wanted to go Country line Dancing. There's this place it's located a town over. Honky Tonk Bar and Inn. I can show you how to line dance. This coming weekend or..."

"Anniversary coming up."

"Oh."

"If he doesn't have shit planned I will meet you there."

We were quiet for a minute. I wondered to myself if her husband did remember their anniversary where did it leave me or us? My thoughts were confusing me and I did not speak them out loud. I waited for her to guide the conversation.

"What did you do for your anniversary with Lori?"

"We had spent a quiet evening at home. Had a babysitter for Carl. Nothing really. You?"

"He didn't remember. Our anniversary is coming up and it will be a repeat. I made a big issue about it last year. This year I am not going to say shit. Just another day."

"Not true, Mich. If it is important to you it should be important to him."

I watched the side of her face hoping she would look at me. She glanced my way and then back out across the distance to where the warehouse stood.

"If you could have done anything other than a quiet evening, what would it have been?"

"Probably go somewhere." I shrugged. I was indifferent since this scenario implied my time would be spent with Lori.

"Where?"

"I don't know, Mich. Anywhere. I'm open but Lori, not so much. She wants every dime to go towards Carl's future college education. I work for that, to keep a roof over our heads, and not much else. It's all about Carl."

"Smart to have only one kid."

"Smarter to have none."

"What are you saying, Rick?"

"I love my son. I love him, don't get me wrong but sometimes, I wish things were different. I wish I was first. I wish there was a little something left over for me or just for me."

"Give me an example."

"Time. I feel like I am running out of time and one day I am going to wake up and he is going to be off to college with all the money that Lori has put aside for his future and I will continue to work and work and then I will wake up from the routine of working to realize I haven't even begun to live. I only have one life."

"Cats are so lucky."

"I don't want a cat, Mich."

"If you had more time, how do you think you would want to spend it?"

"With you. Doing this. What we are doing right now or what ever else you want to do."

"I want Montana. I want a road trip in an RV from there to Alaska. I want to climb mountains-"

"Mountains?"

"Okay asshole, hills. Is that better?"

"Reasonable, Mich. When you speak in that poetic way, I begin to think you lose sight of yourself."

"What are you talking about, Rick?"

"Nothing. Keep talking."

"Thank you. Whitewater rafting..."

"I would love to see that." I chuckled.

I couldn't help but laugh. She was serious and delusional. Seriously delusional. I don't know when the last time I laughed so hard. She eventually began to laugh with me. She is such a beautiful liar.

I used the back of my hand to wipe the tears. We were both laughing that hard outside of our cruiser we had parked at a former campground waiting for Shane and Andrea to finish speaking to the owner of a warehouse in a secluded but centralized location. No meth lab.

"Just for kicks, I would take you whitewater rafting." I had offered without thinking.

She gave me a very long look that didn't hide the warm smile that was directed at me, caused by some private thought she didn't quite share.

"I know I am going to have to go to a therapist to get over my fear of water."

"Fear of water or drowning, Mich?"

"Drowning in an ocean, a lake, a river, is that better for you?"

"How is it that I know everything about you?"

"Because you listen. You are intrigued. Besides you aren't my husband." She bumped her shoulder into me. We were standing side by side with our back against the cruiser door.

"If I were your husband, I would take you. I would take you to the mountains in Montana and we would take an RV through Canada to get to Alaska. Because as your husband, I would want to see whatever it is that you would want to see. I would want to breathe in the air that fills your lungs in order to help you describe or recognize the difference from Oil refinery and Cow manure. I would like to experience the very cold and the hot extremes with you. I want to fill my lungs because you declared it is a good time to breathe in and out. I will be prepared to stop at every little hole in the wall restaurant that you swear is healthy eating because you have now randomly taken us off our green smoothie diet. I will help you blog about our adventures. Every year, once a year. I wouldn't forget our anniversary, Mich. It would be impossible-because it would be something we both look forward to."

Mich was quiet for a very long time.

I kept my line of vision on Shane and Andrea who were still off in the distance ambling towards us as they spoke to each other. I didn't understand why I had said what I said, but I felt a genuine conviction about every word.

"You would have a lot of explaining to do taking me White Water Rafting on my anniversary, especially with my lifeless body you would have to retrieve and bring home to Mike."

She was absolutely nuts, and I knew right then I was in love with her.


	7. He Ate The Entire Kit Kat

"For women, the best aphrodisiacs are words. The G-spot is in the ears. He who looks for it below there is wasting his time."  
 **― Isabel Allende, Of Love and Shadows**

* * *

I was angry, but I didn't let it show. I became passive-aggressive, and it was apparent. I had two days off. I had planned it that way, thinking that we were going somewhere or going to do something fun and that I would be overcome with exhaustion for two days. Didn't happen. We spent our fucking anniversary at my partner's house.

Mike dared to ask me for the fourth time in a thirty minute period the same damn question, "What is your problem, Chonne?"

"No problem." I brushed past him. I was dressed in a pair of designer jeans, a white blouse with no bra, and my very favorite pair of fancy stilettos. I didn't own cowboy boots, and I wasn't about to go out and buy a pair. There were going to be no repeat of this adventure. I have a secret fantasy about a cowboy, but nowhere in it am I a cowgirl. I'm a God Damn sexy Bitch who was ready to drop it like it's hot to some Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson. Maybe Dixie Chicks? The hell if I know. What I did know it wasn't going to be added to my playlist.

Rick and I have a playlist. It's on our phones. At first, our musical taste didn't mesh. He, of course, liked country and I like classical when I was with my sophisticated associates, but on the down low, I love Tupac and Kendrick Lamar. I was surprised that Rick had a few rap songs, but I wasn't surprised by the likes of Fresh Prince, Parent's just don't understand, Busta Rhymes and Heavy D with Janet Jackson. We argued for hours about what was considered rap and what was considered Poetic Genius. He mentioned Eminem, and I got out of the fucking cruiser. We took down two guys that had a small operation in a small RV, Spencer and some young kid named Zach. Music was playing. I had to know.

"What's what?" Spencer was confused lying face down on the ground.

"The music. What artist is that?"

Rick still had his gun drawn on the two as I put the handcuffs on them.

"SYML. The one on now is Until the Ribbon Breaks. The song is Persia."

"What do you think?" I asked Rick.

"Write it down, Mich. You are going to ask me an hour from now, and the only thing I'm going to remember is the beat."

Yep, we haphazardly created a Rick and Mich playlist.

I was in the Honky Tonk Bar and Inn parking lot.

 **Mich:** Are you coming or not?

 **Rick:** You just sprung this on me last minute.

 **Mich:** Is that a yes or a no?

 **Rick:** I didn't expect this to go this way.

 **Mich:** Type it out.

 **Rick:** What?

 **Mich:** Cant say spit it out. Type it out. What's the issue?

 **Rick:** I'm nervous. Aren't you?

 **Mich** : I want to dance. I want to have a good time. I want some alcohol and maybe something to eat. That is what I want. I didn't get that on my anniversary, and I am not counting the shit at your house. That shit doesn't count.

 **Rick:**...

 **Mich:** I'm sorry. I'm pissed off, and I'm hurt. I am sorry.

 **Rick:** We would have found a place in Montana for dancing.

 **Mich:** What place is that?

 **Rick:** You are the Co-pilot. You know how to work Google and Google Maps.

 **Mich:** I would have to read the reviews.

 **Rick:** I know. You are always reading them to me in the squad car.

 **Mich:** You ask me too. Are you coming or not?

 **Rick:** ...

 **Mich:** What are you anxious about?

 **Rick:** Looking guilty.

 **Mich:** What crime have you committed?

 **Rick:** I feel guilty.

 **Mich:** Still not a crime.

 **Rick:** Infidelity.

 **Mich:** Who's locking people up for that?

 **Rick:** We need to stop and think. Are you thinking?

 **Mich:** You are putting this on me?

 **Rick:** My loyalty is questionable.

 **Mich:** I can always count on you.

 **Rick:** I make sure of that, and it's not right

 **Mich:** I can go on my own

 **Rick:** Then I won't ever know

 **Mich:** You know practically everything.

 **Rick** : What I want to know, I don't think boundaries are going to work.

 **Mich** : I'm tired.

 **Rick:** We NEED to set boundaries.

I'm sitting in my car feeling like a fool. I wanted to throw my phone. I wanted to scream. Here I was, a town over from Kings County, begging for my partner to be with me. That is what it felt like. I was done. He was doing entirely too much texting to actually be on his way. I realized I had gotten dressed for nothing again. I was breaking down, and I have never felt so alone in my life. My heart was broken, and the pain cuts deep. Past hurts began to take over my mind. I had a lot of unresolved issues when it came to Mike cheating on me.

I began to wonder if Mike would have had any problems calling up his intern to meet him at the drop of a hat? If I were the intern would Mike have remembered our anniversary?

I want to be desired and placed first come hell or high water blind by the love that grew from lust. I want someone to lust after me. I want someone to _want_ me.

My phone began to ring, and I pressed ok without thinking. I didn't say a word. I knew who it was that was calling as it was our routine to text and then call when texting got too much to do for whatever reason.

"Mich?"

I couldn't speak. I was breaking down into a sobbing mess of tears.

"Mich?"

I put my car in reverse.

"What are you doing Mich?"

I had made up my mind to leave. Peace out.

"Where are you going, Mich?"

"Home."

"You've got me all the way out here to change your mind?"

Rick was coming up to my car as I was pulling out. We locked eyes.

"Park your car, Michonne." He disconnected the call.

I drove back to my original spot. He was pulling at my door handle before I could unlock the door. He held my door open for me to step out. Rick could see that I was crying.

"I don't know how you will feel about me using my shirt sleeve, but if you have a tissue, I would like to have one Michonne."

"I don't know how I would feel about you trying to wipe my tears on your shirt sleeve but here is a Kleenex."

"Who says I'm wiping your tears? I need to blow my nose."

He wore that silly grin that had a way to make me smile right back at him.

He dabbed at my eyes. My back was against my closed driver's door. He was dressed like a cowboy. The blue shirt, jeans, and brown cowboy boots suited him well along with the stubble that was growing on his face and the large brown hat he had taken off of his head upon his original approach.

"I'm not trying to disappoint you too."

"I thought I could count on you."

"And you can. I'm here."

"Why didn't you just tell me that?"

"I'm nervous, Michonne. Doesn't mean I don't want to be with you."

"If you are having second thoughts I can go -."

"Michonne, I want to do this. I'm not saying, no."

"You don't sound like you are saying, yes."

"You and I are going to need boundaries. We need rules. I have never done this before, and I want to make sure you and I are on the same page."

"Okay."

"Okay, what? Tell me what you want, Mich?"

"I want to have a good time tonight."

My response was the truth. I wanted to feel good. I needed that feeling more than ever. Tonight. That night.

OH. MY. GOD!

This man has ruined me. This man has caused me to rethink my whole damn life. It can't happen again. It cannot happen again. No. Sir. The next day, I was a paranoid mess. I have never in my life had an out of body experience. My mind was still at the Honky Tonk Bar, and my body was still at the Inn.

If he were my husband...

He paid cash for the room. He took my hand, and I followed him to room 209. There wasn't any small talk or hesitation. He had my back up against the wall. My wrists were held over my head by his one hand and the other he used to unbutton my blouse. I thought I would hyperventilate. I was nervous and incredibly aroused. His face was-so close to mine. I thought he was going to kiss me and for a long time, he didn't. My blouse hung open after he pulled it up and out of my jeans.

That one hand caused me to whimper once it went inside shadowing through the thin material to touch my skin from my waist to my breast where his thumb lay planted on my nipple. My nipple reacted immediately to the increase in pressure, release. His mouth continued to hover close to mine. I wanted to kiss, but he remained out of reach with me pinned to the wall. He ran his lips along my neck to my ear, the heat from his mouth caused my breathing to become shallow.

"What song is playing in your head. Share it with me." I softly murmured.

He whispered the lyrics to a song we stumbled on before the kiss on the couch. He had played it for me in the cruiser that day, and I had long ago added it to my playlist.

It's still a whisper through a megaphone  
It's not your volume, it's your tone  
Those brown eyes are good enough to pick out in winter time

(That line was not the lyrics, but I didn't say anything. I was allowing him, his voice, the warmth of his breath on my earlobe continue to soak my panties)

So did I say too much, if that's my crime?  
I will zip shut my mouth, won't forget about you  
Just one more whisper, to see me through  
Lets hush, hush, hush  
So Persia if you like me, then what's the fuss?

Oh Persia, Persia  
If I can't be your prince  
Then I whisper, I'd like to leave you in my fingerprints  
Persia, Persia  
I might not be the one  
I still whisper until you tell me that we're done

"If I were just any man, this would be sex. The kind of sex that I would give to you but you have chosen me to be your husband, and it changes things. I'm going to show you, Michonne. As your husband."

I was breathless and dizzy and still ready to hyperventilate.

"As my husband what should I expect?"

"As your husband, I am going to make love to you."

"But you are not my husband."

"If I were this is what it would feel like."

Rick kissed me, and I felt like I had never been kissed and have my heart and soul taken from me. I realized that I have never been touched, caressed, stripped naked and bare by a man the way he did as my husband.

-  
The honky-tonk weighed heavily on my mind the next day. I had a day and a half to recover. I needed to get my mind right. I was sitting at the foot of my bed at home when Mike walked in with a gift and the look that he realized his error.

I took off my headphones when I realized words were coming out of Mike's mouth that I could not hear. I had my bathrobe on. I had just showered for the third time trying to get Grimes off of me, but he still plagued my thoughts, listening to Persia, maybe I was trying to keep him there.

"I have a lot going on, Chonne. I'm sorry. I want to make this up to you."

He was on both his knees looking like a man that wanted to be out of the doghouse. Mike knows I am a sucker for two things, one being gifts. I love gag gifts the most, but it is a side of me my husband doesn't know or would understand.

It was a beautiful tennis bracelet.

The second thing is having my Big Kat licked. I instantly tensed up when things began to lead there quickly and without real warning. Any other time I would have been able to lay back and spread them wide, this time I realized I didn't have a Big Kat, or Fat Kat ready and waiting for a man that was my Real husband. I had Kat crumbs. If he were an astute Kat connoisseur he would have realized he was licking and lapping and empty plate if it weren't for Kat particle dust. My pussy was destroyed and devoured by my pretend husband. I couldn't even produce my one woman marching band. Before I knew it we were arguing as I got up and got dressed.

"Since when you start listening to this type of music?" Mike asked me. I was trying to drown him out with Two Feet, Your Mother was Cheaper.

We were or I was escalating out of control and I had to get out. My excuse was that he still forgot our Anniversary. Nothing he could do could make that shit right with me.

"I'm trying, Chonne. If you need space or time, I suggest you go and find some because this is bullshit!"

I had slammed the door behind me.

I drove. I had called Rick three times and got his voice mail.

Mich: Call me.

I got no response. No call back nor text. I called his home. Carl answered.

"Hi, Mich!"

"Hi, yourself."

"I got a B on my math test. It would have been an A if my Dad would have remembered exactly what you said to tell me."

"I should have wrote it down. He said he had it."

"I'm happy about the B. Mom's happy about it too. Not so much when my Dad talks about you all the time."

"What?"

"Doesn't mean my Mom hates you. My Dad really admires you. He told me and Mom. I happen to think you are really cool."

I was struck mute for a second.

"If you are looking for my Dad he's not here. He and my Mom kind of got into argument over money."

"Sorry to hear that, Carl."

"Dad took off. He was dressed in a suit. I asked him if he was going to a funeral."

"What did he say?"

"Yes."


	8. Smother Me With Your Kat

"Well, it seems to me that the best relationships - the ones that last - are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is... suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with."  
 **― Gillian Anderson**

* * *

I was losing my mind. I had no clue if I were coming or going or if this was up or down. I had the most incredible sex with a woman that wasn't my wife. I wanted to be nowhere else but in room 209 with Michonne. She was incredibly fun, spontaneous, and sexy.

I kind of knew that it was going to be good between us. I mean, good was the baseline anything more than that was beyond comprehension. Michonne had made plenty of references to her Big Kat, and just that description had me quite intimidated a bit. To see one up close and in all of its chocolate glory, I started slowly wondering if what I was doing was pleasurable. It was the darkest most magnificent part of her body that I encountered hovering above me.

I gathered that the painful grip she had on my hair was an indication that what I was doing was intense and she was getting off to how I dug my tongue in and gasped for air. She had no qualms about literally sitting on my face. I had to lift her ass up a bit to bring my thumbs to help me the fuck out because I really thought I was going to suffocate. Not going to lie, it was a place I would have been more than happy to meet my death.

Michonne is also loud.

"Oh, Rick, eat my big kat. Eat my big Kat. Come on Rick. Ooh. Rick. Ooh. Yes. Oooh."

I know she has said she is like a marching band and she played a song a while back while we were in the cruiser by a Trey Songz. I added him to my playlist.

Bet the neighbors know my name  
My name my name  
I bet the neighbors know my name  
My my my  
Take this pillow right here (grab this)  
And I know you're so excited if you bite it they won't hear  
And you know, jus' what we capable of, when we makin' love  
So the music gone be loud, you gone scream and shout

"Really, Mich?"

I tried to appear taken aback that she would play that kind of music with very extreme sexual undertones. The video she had on her phone didn't help matters.

" _Yo_ , someone out there is having it that good."

"You ever have it that good?"

"Not in a very long time, you?"

I could only shake my head no. I was embarrassed by the idea of Mich in a sexual way even though I was having more and more dreams about her that consisted of sexual ways that I could get her to bite down on a pillow.

We pulled into a sex shop. I have never been inside of one, but Michonne seemed to be well versed in all things Vibrators, dildoes or toys in general. We weren't there for that, but we were there for that.

"Why is it so black?" I asked her about the penis she was holding.

"I ask myself why is this so pink?" She grabbed the other one that was dangling from a Penis Christmas tree. Every color and shape dangled from it like an ornament.

"Check out this blue one with blue balls. Pull down your pants Grimes so I can see if it matches." Mich found her joke funny. I did not. I had blue balls more than I cared to admit and it was centered around the woman holding a moving tongue and her fascination with it. Her mind seemed it had gone a million miles away and I wanted to be there if she was willing to share. I wasn't going to ask her about her thoughts in case she may sense that I was extremely curious about some things that I wanted to keep hidden until it vanished.

Mich noticed first that our assailant took off out of the sex shop. We were in hot pursuit. It was the first time I had stolen anything. I wasn't aware that I was running down the street with a multicolored penis until it was too late. Instead of pulling out my gun I aimed with it. Our assailant was shock and I was too. Michonne cut her eye at me like, I was unwell. She was strong for the both of us.

"You had me worried, Rick."

"I'm sorry Lori. I should have called you and told you to not worry. I had a little too much to drink. I wasn't thinking straight and crashed at Shane's until I knew I could drive safely home. I'm getting ready to go take a shower."

My heart was going a thousand miles an hour. I set my phone down on the dresser and took off my watch and wedding band to take a shower. I took one with Michonne before leaving the Inn. I needed another one. I had to keep my wits about me and quickly get in the bathroom to at least find my composure while Lori chimed on from the bedroom. I could hear her clearly.

"I found two tickets in your uniform shirt, Rick. Why didn't you tell me in advance that you wanted to go and see a Play? I would have never guessed in a million years it would be something you would want to see. I just wish sometimes you would communicate what it is you want to do in advance. You know I can't go when I have the potluck committee tonight at Carol's. I'm also concerned about the cost of those tickets, Rick. I noticed there is quite a bit of money leaving the bank account and not as much remaining. I hope you are able to return those tickets and get our money back."

Lori had to have been messing around with my phone. It was the only way for THAT song to play because I was just listening to it before coming in the house. Fuck was she doing with my phone?

Don't it feel good when I touch on it?  
Wouldn't it be nice if all night I was in you?  
Come kiss me, come with me, down the hall to my bedroom  
Tonight we'll be

Making love faces  
Making love faces  
Shadows on the wall while the candles burning  
Messing up the bed while you sweating out your perm and  
Making love faces  
Making love faces

"What kind of music are you now listening to, Rick?" Lori walked into our bathroom with my phone in her hands and the music still playing.

The tickets weren't for my wife and I to go anywhere together. I got those tickets to surprise, Michonne who just surprised me hours earlier that she didn't want to go. She claimed she needed to recuperate. I thought this was code for blowing me off.

* * *

"Why don't you want to see it? It has great reviews, and it is sold out. Oh No. It's friggin sold out." The sold out part was a realization that hit her and I tried to fight a smile.

"Good. I would rather go to a funeral than listen to a story about vaginas, Mich."

"You will not die in a quest for knowledge and further exploration in to the magical kingdom for whence you came and if heterosexual, where you would like to cum. But since it is sold out, I will know if I see you in a suit you are literally going to a funeral."

"I am not interested in women's vagina's nor the stories behind them."

I was more than interested in hers and with us stealing kisses from each other I was anticipating that we would take what we were doing to the next level. I was frustrated and it translated to Mich that I was pissed off. I wasn't necessarily pissed off with Mich but her and this anniversary with her husband and the stuff that was accumulating with Lori was too much.

"That is because you are a Dick and it's not because you actually have one."

"Are you trying to piss me off, Mich?" I followed her eyes but I didn't catch on.

"You've been in a pissy mood. I am just making an observation, Dick wad."

"Taco Pilot." I shot back.

"What?"

Michonne had stopped the cruiser abruptly. Luckily there wasn't anyone behind us. It was another purposeful confusing conversation that was overheard by our Dispatcher, Denise who also moonlighted as an EMT. I was designated to make sure the radio was set for us to hear and not be overheard. I failed.

Was I pissy, maybe so. I was confused by this anniversary celebration that she was planning to have with her husband and the two days she had put in advance to have off because she anticipated a good time. I mean we had kissed on her couch and in the Walmart parking lot. I wanted to tell her that the reason it was sold out was that I had purchased the last two tickets for that weekend.

We found ourselves in an argument on Dick wad versus Taco Pilot. It was the first thing that came to my mind. I quickly learned from Mich that Dick wad means fool and the only reason she called me that was because I wouldn't stop talking and Man the damn radio. She wanted to know what I meant by Taco Pilot...

* * *

She was calling me hours later. I had asked her that morning while we were still in bed at the Honky Tonk Bar and Inn if she even wanted to go to that Play later on that night. I played it off like her hesitation didn't bother me and then she began with the bullshit about boundaries that were blown to fucking smithereens if my dick was in her mouth just moments before.

What she did with my tip and my base, I was in love with Michonne. Head over heels, with no fucking take backs. I was whipped the moment she swallowed in one gulp. Recovery time was a couple of minutes tops. It wasn't anything like with Lori where I was good for the rest of the night. I had the condom in my hands because this was baby making level sperm I was firing off.

I had allowed my phone to ring twice before I picked up. I was already 20 minutes from Atlanta to see this play by myself if I couldn't sell the tickets to someone that was looking to buy them.

I didn't say hello. I was quiet.

"I don't think this is how this is done."

"I'm all ears."

"We just spent the night together." Michonne tried to inform me of something I was well aware. I was there too.

"Listening."

"Affairs are either one time or spaced out a week or two later."

"This may come as news to you but I didn't read the handbook of successful ways to maintain an affair. If you only wanted one time, I say you've got what you wanted, Mich."

"Are you giving me what I want right now?"

"I've always given you what you wanted, Mich."

"And I haven't done the same, Rick?"

"This is big, Mich. This is big to me. It isn't something to minimize. It means something to me and don't tell me that it means nothing to you if you haven't given it enough thought because what you say, or what you think you want to say, I am going to take it to heart."

"What are we doing, Rick? Like really?"

"I'm hanging up, Mich. Not on us. Just on you." I disconnected the call. She was a woman that could have me at a level of pissed off that I didn't want to imagine.

The audacity of asking what are we doing?

 _What are we doing? We are fucking, Michonne, and I'm trying to figure out how soon we can do it again and to keep doing it again.._

By the time that I arrived and parked my car, I had at least 20 text messages from Michonne.

I went through them randomly. She and I were going to have to figure this shit out and figure it out quick.

* * *

A/N:

Someone had mention the word mirroring in my other story and I thought it was a fascinating observation for how I write. I think this story shows this almost succinctly of having an affair, and the signs that are left for Lori and Mike...hmm. Changes in behavior and dress, musical taste, Sex is different now with their spouses and this willingness to endure a play... This is what Rick does and this is what Lori catches. Same with Michonne and Mike.

P.S. Note 02/5/2018

Reason for the Lori smut is to show how Rick became more vocal and sexually aggressive with is wife and this should have been a clue for Lori. Out of the blue he's doing something different or talking when it has been a passive sexual experience between them.


	9. The Multi-Tasking Suit

"Meeting her was luck.  
Knowing her was maddening.  
Loving her is destiny."  
 **― Ravikant Mahto**

* * *

I would often think about the intern. At one point it was nearing obsession, wondering what she looked like. When I'd finally discovered who she was, with the help of my friend, Andrea, I felt sick to my stomach. She was in her early twenties and very attractive. She didn't have dreads, and she had movie star teeth. So I wondered how stupid she felt when Mike didn't leave me for her. I relished in that fact. I won. I must be morally smarter than her as if there was a way to assess integrity without experiencing some if not all of the nuances that cause affairs. All I knew was that I would never ever get involved with a married man. She was stupid to do it.

I had given Mike an ultimatum, and like a dog with his tail between his legs, he chose to stay married and move away from temptation. Now that the shoes he wore were on my feet, I knew first hand how one day you are walking on solid ground and before you know it you are drowning in quicksand. I'd identified there was only one way out of this mess that I created by my own design and with the canvas in which Rick allowed for us to eventually weave and wove our crazy love story.

 _Did he just hang up on me?_

I started receiving a response but it wasn't to my text messages from earlier.

I was like whoa! He wasn't typing with his index he was typing with his fist. Like whoa...

Rick: This is not a game. You ask what are we doing? I will tell you what we have done and what we will more than likely continue to do and I will use your favorite word. FUCKING. We. Are. FUCKING! I don't know why this is making me extremely angry, but I am. I have never been this destructive in my whole entire life. What kills me is that knowing your warped logic I am your way at getting back at your husband for what he has done to you. It is not fair to me because I would have never done that to you. But I have just done the very shit to my wife. I can't believe I am fucking up my life for you and you have the audacity to not know what the hell we are doing?

He was just standing there in the lobby of the Theatre with his back to the entrance. I walked up behind him when he suddenly turned. We were face to face. This was the first time I had ever seen him in a suit. It was simple in style and black in color. It was a multi-tasking suit that said, 'Yes I can be worn to a funeral in the morning or a Theatrical Play at night.' Rick had always told me that he was a man who only owns one suit.

"I didn't think you were coming." He said to me. His eyes searching my face after the realization hit him that it was actually me he was standing face to face with, inside of the lobby.

"I remembered a curious thing you said about wanting to see Montana because it is what I want to see. If I didn't come tonight, you wouldn't do this without me."

"I didn't say that, Mich. I said I would want to see whatever. Not just Montana. Everything."

"I have a bucket list."

"I know. You've read it to me."

"Only because you were the only person to ask."

"Is that really how you remember it, Mich?"

There was that smile playing at the corner of his lips. It was the second best place for my heart to get lost, the first was his blue eyes that always appeared curious to what was held in the depth of my brown ones. He had this uncanny ability to peer right into my soul.

* * *

We were absolutely in love with our new find in music. I had the lyrics that we debated over. Official or not, these made more sense than what we were spewing or maybe it began to mean something to the both of us. Until The Ribbon Breaks was on repeat, Goldfish:

Where is your guilt from  
Is it just imaginary?  
It's your hope that I feel sorry for  
The one you bury  
The pressure breaks the levee  
You've got a nerve...or you're just nervous  
I might try to change your world  
I pray for change, Hail Mary  
I'd like to thank you for your fear  
I've used it well, I trust nobody here  
But I'm not the same as you

You're just a goldfish swimming in a bowl  
Stay up on the surface, nobody will know that you  
You're just as scared as them  
You don't know where to go  
You're just a lighthouse nobody can see

Rick had something on his mind which had to be his reason for turning down the volume to share his thoughts after saying the last lines together of the first chorus.

"I think you will like the Walking Dead, Mich."

"Did you buy the beers for later on today?"

"I've got two cases."

"Who's drinking that much beer?"

"I wasn't sure how much Mike-."

"He's not going to be there and neither will Andre."

"I didn't calculate Andre as a beer drinker, Mich." He smirked.

"What kind of mother do you think I am?" I smirked him right back. "They are going with his parents to see relatives. The free roaming chickens in the front yard, shit."

"Not for you? Too country?"

"Not going."

"What time?"

"7pm. I will have the wings ready. Spicy?"

"Yeah. Not level 10, Mich."

"You and I haven't graduated from mild, Grimes. I would like to enjoy the taste of food not to suffer through."

"Last time-"

"You were there with me at the Wing Shack! You heard me when I had asked for Mild. You and I should have known that shit wasn't mild if it was burning our nostril hairs. Two fools still trying to eat it." I watched him smile. I smiled too.

"I will be at your place at 7. You did record the two episodes like I instructed over the phone yesterday, right?"

"Yes, Grimes. When you come over you will be really happy to know I can follow instructions."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Sitting around waiting for some action was the most boring part of our job. I was craving to one day break free. Out of the blue I began to take a leap, "Okay, Okay, Okay you don't have to keep bugging me about it."

"What are you talking about, Mich?"

"You've been itching to know everything on my Bucket List, and I definitely want to see what is on yours. Do you want to go first or should I go?"

"You are fricking serious?"

"Are you fricking serious that you don't have a Bucket List?"

There was something about how he would look at me that made me wonder if he thought I was the craziest person he has ever encountered.

When we first started out as partners, our relationship was on shaky ground. After I vouched for him in his most recent internal investigation regarding what happened to a sum of money that Aaron had during a drug bust it was like a greenlight was lit.

Government Agency money which was a substantial sum, could not be accounted for and never recovered. Rick and Shane were the only two that had conflicting stories about what happened. A simple rewording of his report and giving a consistent narrative got him and his former partner out of hot water.

It was a quick lesson that he and Shane learned to never use I thought. Only go with what you know, first-hand knowledge. If in doubt leave it out. I have no idea how those two graduated the police academy. Either way, my help caused him to relax.

What really happened was something we just didn't discuss.

I was relieved when he pulled out the folded paper from his back pocket. We were sitting in the cruiser parked outside a fairground.

"You go first, Mich."

If the look that I gave him could have cut him like a Katana, he would have been sliced. Acting like we didn't plan to talk about our Bucket List. It was the first time that I officially told him what was on mine.

"I want to buy an RV and travel in it. Maybe live in one for awhile."

"An RV?"

"Recreational Vehicle. I think I would want the Class C though. Mercedes Benz. I have been doing a lot of reading about them and did you know the Class A and larger are pretty dangerous? The huge ones are the ones I am talking about. You literally can't see cars on the side of you and to try and turn around-"

"Mich. You in an RV?"

"I have more on my Bucket list, Grimes."

"RV?"

"Why are you marveling over my very first one? I have more."

"Looks like you have three damn pages, Mich."

"Four. Do you need glasses?" I've been questioning his eyesight for a minute. He's been complimenting me on little things lately starting with my smile, the sound of my laughter, my voice when we recited lyrics, and how he thought I was beautiful. Beautiful...

"Read your list." He sighed. I didn't care.

"I want to climb-"

"Stairs?"

"Ha. Mountains. Why are you an ass to me?" I paused from continuing with the next one.

"Where?"

"Montana."

"Montana?"

"Well, I want to see everything."

"See or climb, Mich?"

"Would like to see the view from the top."

"Would need to know where is the steepest hill that could be found because I don't see you as one that climbs mountains."

"Are you challenging my fucking bucket list, Grimes?"

"You are challenging my imagination right now."

"I am physically fit. I can jog 10 miles. I have trained for a marathon."

"Did you run in this marathon?"

"I have a story behind that, and you know the story. My point is that I would like to do it."

"What else?" He was shaking his head.

"White Water Rafting."

"Didn't you tell me a story about drowning in a community pool and how-"

"What does that have to do with my desire to experience rafting along my many stops in an RV?"

"Mich, I have to pretend that I have no memory of what you told me about your fear of certain things."

"I wish you would do that so I can get through my well thought out list so we can get to yours. Besides, I can wear a life vest, you know. I will probably need the Yellow arm float things that kids wear. A swim cap. Probably need to sit in the center, or middle. Not on the edge or a place I can fall out easily."

He was trying to stifle a laugh but I was serious as a heart attack. I had thought this out. I swiped him with my list on his head. He tried to avoid my physical abuse but he's slow.

"Tell me more of this RV adventure." He finally let out the laughter he was trying to hold in. "Tell me really what you hope to get out of traveling all over the place?"

"I want to see the colors that the change of seasons can bring for different areas. The freedom of witnessing without time constraints or reminders, because I am free to think and do. I don't have to justify it or feel like I failed at something based on things that were outside of my control. It's a journey that is mine and I can own it. I will show my appreciation and gratitude every time that I step outside of the RV to stretch taking in the first light of day and capturing the end with photos that I will blog about. I know once I make it to Alaska, I will probably cry."

I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I began to literally cry. I was on my period. Crazy hormonal I guess. I was too late in catching a tear from hitting the paper I was holding when the teardrops fell from the tip of my nose. I was embarrassed because this was a side of me that I had never ever allowed Rick to see.

"Why are you crying?"

"Because I want it so bad that I can almost smell it."

I was having a nervous breakdown, and it had everything to do with wanting to leave my marriage, coming to terms with it was hard to do.

"Do you have a tissue?"

I nodded my head and gave him one. He reached for my chin for me to turn my face more to him. For a second he spied something in my eyes as I did his, and it was frightening to see a glimpse or a sense of something between us.

"What do you think Montana smells like?"

"Fresh. New. Clean. Trees."

"You would leave behind all this Georgia Pine?"

I watched his half smile. He was trying to make light of the situation or ease the awkward one that we were finding ourselves in more often enough to recognize we were attracted to each other.

"I would," I had whispered. I was finding myself feeling dizzy by my random emotions and this intimate interaction that we were having in the cruiser as we waited for back up to arrive.

"I'm not sure if I want Shane back as my partner, Mich."

I smiled. He was still holding my chin after the tears were already wiped away.

"I've heard Wyoming may have what you are looking for in the way of fresh, new, clean, and trees."

"I have not thought about Wyoming. I am open to it. I have to research it first to make it official."

"Sometimes I wonder if things could be less stifling somewhere else too. Kind of scary to think about breathing at the distance in which it sounds you are willing to go to do it."

"I'm willing, Rick. I am. I want to breathe."

"I can't understand why your husband doesn't do better by you."

"Maybe, you should be my husband."

I wasn't sure if he was steadying my chin or if he was going to bring his face closer. Whatever he was contemplating he thought better of it. He held on to my tissue of wiped away tears.

"What else is on this bucket list?"

He dropped his hand from my chin. His eyes diverted to the paper that was on my lap. He moved back more into his driver seat.

"Okay, since you are really nosey, I will tell you..."

I had finally got to the end and asked him what was on his. He unfolded his sheet of paper with one thing on his very own bucket list.

"What's on yours?"

"I defer to whatever is on your list."

"You didn't know what would be on my list." My eyes were glued to my paper. I couldn't believe this fool wasn't aware of what he was implying about deferring to my list. He was saying a lot of crazy things and the more insane stuff he spoke, I was taking that shit to heart. He was friggin married though, and so was I. He was the perfect match for me. Perfect.

"Could have had bikini wax or Brazilian wax on my list." I told him.

"I would like to see that. Why don't you add that near the top with that fancy RV coming to pick me up and we head to one of those places? Your choice of course. I am just there to watch."

"It's not on my list because I already do those things. I am beginning to wonder if you know what a bucket list really is?"

He was quiet. His eyes possibly focused on what was beyond the white fenced barrier that had happy families with children walking around with cotton candy, tickets, and smiles. I noticed his hands grip the steering wheel tightly and release. He was lost in thought for a long moment.

He handed me the paper to read for myself. I did quietly. Rick did not look at me as I did. He kept his eyes focused on the dashboard. I could sense that he was holding his breath.

 _'I have only one on my bucket list, it's you. I defer to whatever it is that you have on your list. I have known you long enough to know it would be something I would want to do too. With you.'_

There was this loud banging on the outside of the trunk of our cruiser that instantly got our attention. It was Shane informing us that backup had arrived.

* * *

So with him standing there in his funeral suit contemplating whether to go and watch the play alone or run in the opposite direction to what's safe and familiar was more than I could handle. My heart twisted and flopped in my stomach like a whale washed ashore, I was done. I was in love, and it was black and white, clear as day. I was in love and from what I could see from him he was in love too. We went inside the theater, ushered to our seats where we sat together holding hands, sitting as close as the armrest between us would allow.

"I've never made out in a car before."

The heavy rain was pouring down outside his car. Things were getting heated between us and we couldn't wait. We didn't plan to go to any hotel even though we probably should have because it was awkward trying to position ourselves with his seat pulled all the way back as far as it would go. I had parked next to his car and the area in the parking lot was practically empty and we had the windows pretty fogged.

"I know." He tried to speak with my teeth biting and pulling at his lower lip.

"This is my first time, ever."

"I'm turning this good girl bad." He growled.

"Yes, I'm a bad girl."

"Not yet. Not until-."

I pulled my panties to the side, his tip touched my moist Kat lips. He gasped.

"How about now?"

"Michonne." He was shaking. His energy transferring over to me.

We both sensed the danger. We were well aware, and the more I lowered and consumed him within the walls of my womanhood, we accepted quickly there wasn't any turning back. We were in a dense fog state of lust.

Eyes locked, mouth open, dispersing of breath, hot, sweet, wet, tight, pulses, delirium, scent, down to the base. I sat for a moment while I adjusted to the newness this sensation intimately created, including everything else that this alluded too.

"What song is playing in your head?"

I stared directly into his eyes after I had asked with my mouth close to his ear.

I was still. The sensation of my voice caused him to grip my waist tightly as he breathed heavily. I could feel him twitching inside of me almost erratically which was beginning to cause me to lose my ability to remain motionless when hit with this- _Oh so incredible-_ wave.

"Killing Darth Vader with my motherfucking kick drum."

We love the band Missio too.

* * *

My curiosity got the best of me.

My feet led me out of the bedroom to venture forth. I needed to see with my own two eyes who else was enjoying this very intimate party. The angle that I stepped in to the living room I was only visible to one person. Rick's back was to me as I stood there surprised. He had shown me a picture of his mother. I never thought in a million years I would be face to face with his mother who spoke first, which quieted everyone in the room.

"Are you going to join us?"

All heads turned to see me standing there with a look of slight confusion on my face. My eyes found Rick's. He was, surprised, embarrassed and flustered. He stood up from the couch that he shared with Andrea and Shane as if this was some sordid Maury Povich Show with an introduction to the one lone audience member which consisted of Mama Grimes.

 _What kind of Fuckery did I just walk my black ass into? Shit!_

"Yeah! Why don't you do that." Shane snickered. Andrea gave him an elbow, "What?" Shane frowned, his attention was on Andrea who wasn't happy with the arrangement or possible reveal.


	10. Bullseye

"The more familiar two people become, the more the language they speak together departs from that of the ordinary, dictionary-defined discourse. Familiarity creates a new language, an in-house language of intimacy that carries reference to the story the two lovers are weaving together and that cannot be readily understood by others."  
 **― Alain de Botton, On Love**

* * *

"What song is playing in your head, Michonne?" I found my voice.

I wasn't really surprised by what was happening between us. The squad car was thick with confusion, misplaced words, boundaries that reached the moon. We weren't going to continue messing around was the last thing that we both agreed on. Within three hours it was blown apart.

She had me pressed against the wall inside of a free room in a local Holiday Inn. We had gone to apprehend a suspect that had slipped through our visual surveillance and we were in a two hour pursuit. The door was left open. Nothing that belonged to the suspect was left behind. Greenlight.

Michonne spoke softly in my ear in response to what I had asked just moments ago. My emotions were wrapped in every word that she recited as if it was a spoken word.

You've got me surrounded,  
It feels like I'm drowning and I don't want to come up for air.  
I lost everything, I threw myself in and you took me when no one was there.  
Well you can take what you need, take the air that I breathe and I'll give away all that I own.  
Whatever I lose, is put back by you in a way that you'll never know.

I was lost in her eyes when I realized where the lyrics came from-Seafret. We had both said the next line together.

Cause I can't be without you.

We were sharing a very intense moment because both of our breath caught in our throats, no air found to fill our lungs until I remembered the next verse. I spoke them with great conviction as if it was with my last dying breath.

I'll be there when you need me most  
I'll be there if you're ever alone  
Together, we can grow old.  
I can't leave you  
I can't leave you,  
No.

Michonne and I found these string of lyrical verses that danced in our minds, pulled and twisted at our hearts, strangling away any notion of ever turning back on what this was _or_ could be for both of us. It was in that hotel room on that day.

We quickly got each other into a state of no return. It would take a fire truck to come hose us down, to tear us apart or to momentarily jar us back to reality after the hot kisses we shared. Both of our gun belts discarded across the tub rim. We had our pants pulled down to our ankles inside the bathroom with the door locked just in case someone, anyone that the room belongs to would come back for whatever reason. I turned her back to me and kept her in position to plow inside. God, I needed her legs to open wider. I needed to feel the heat, the wetness, and the fucking tightness was like two nights ago in the parking lot of the theater after the play had closed for the night. That was reckless and intense. I wanted to fuck her again like that. I wanted to feel her all around me. I could barely make out the visual of her face since she was hovering over the sink. The mirror provided a great view. I couldn't help but stare back at my reflection that revealed everything that I was doing and would continue to do. I almost didn't recognize the man staring back at me with the perspiration that began to bead on my temple and right above both my brow.

I found my rhythm in her chaotic one that was increasing the likelihood of having one choked out too fucking soon for my liking no matter how I gripped her waist and hips. I didn't want to fucking cum too quick, so I pulled out to regroup.

She began to whine and beg for it, destroying my resolve to give myself a few more seconds to offset the momentum. I couldn't bring myself to finger her after already having her coat me. I would have quickly ejaculated in no time right on the uniform shirt that she still wore. The sounds she made echoed and bounced off the walls to sear onto parts of my brain. The way her body writhed against me, the sight of her smooth brown ass pressed against my swollen cock was enough to cause me to seek her hold over me again and just succumb to the deliriously beautiful place I wished to remained buried, dick and face deep in her pussy. Michonne positioned herself up more to where we held eye contact, entranced by the two people staring back at us. Our reflections.

* * *

We were pulling an overnighter, one of many, inside of the cruiser. It was the best place to talk about anything.

"What age were you when you first fell in love?" Michonne had asked me out of the blue.

I had told her.

"15."

"Are we talking, Lori level love or school crush?"

"She would have been my first girlfriend."

"We are going with, a school crush."

"Call it what you want, Mich. I was in love. LOVE." I felt the heat in my cheeks.

"The unrequited kind. Grimes, if you want that as your starting point for your story, I am all ears."

"She would have been my first everything. I was crazy about her. I would have dated her. I would have liked to at least."

"What happened?"

"She said she didn't find white guys attractive."

"Really? If she didn't like white guys what race was she, Asian, Hispanic?"

"African American."

"You are blowing my mind right now."

"There wasn't anything I could do with that. I didn't know how to improve upon knowing I was someone she would never be interested in. It hurt for a very long time."

"Nope. You are white. Can't change the skin you are in no matter how long you are lying on a tanning bed. Probably really white back then if a mixed girl says she doesn't find your whiteness attractive."

"What are you talking about, Mich?"

"I'm trying to picture what this girl must have looked like back in-Wait, how old are you again? Would have been 1980 something if I were to subtract your 50..."

"If I'm 50 you are 46."

"How did you get all that damn gray around the edges, man? One thing about black people we age very slowly. We can be 85 and look almost 30. Take a white person, add a little crystal meth and you got the Walking Dead."

"Sometimes I really have no words. No way to respond to some of the shit that comes spewing out. Sometimes it's startling."

"Truth. Besides you look like you are possibly in your thirties. You can tell me exactly how old you are when you are ready. Your secret is safe with me."

Michonne doesn't give up fishing for information. She was trying to get a range to narrow it down. She finally conceded to what was reasonable to how old I was in general. If I'm thirty-something, it meant she was thirty-something too.

"She wasn't mixed." I had informed Michonne.

"Do you know when you are looking at someone who is mixed?"

"Of course."

"I'm not talking by today's standard I'm talking about this King's County Warped worldview?"

I put her question on ignore. I would have to look up variations of mixed race in private. From what I remembered the girl in high school had a black mother but no father. She had much lighter skin than Michonne's, and her hair was different but similar to mine, and she had light hazel eyes. Either way, she ended up marrying Tyrese Goodman the star football player right after graduation and moved with him to Florida where he had eventually gone Pro. They were still married since the last time I checked on Facebook a year and a half ago.

"Do you like white guys, Mich?"

"What kind of question are you asking me? I am a married woman."

"Have you ever dated a white guy?"

"I've dated one. College. I was going through a fine ass brown temporary hiatus when I had a short-lived fling with an Italian guy I was tutoring."

"What happened?"

"I wasn't comfortable. I was out of my element."

"Was this 1975 standards of acceptability..."

"How old are you trying to say I am, Grimes?"

I couldn't help but laugh. I knew Mich was maybe three or four years younger than myself and she knew damn well I wasn't more than four years older than her.

"Nothing to do with acceptable. I wasn't adaptable. Plus I don't like white guys that think they must act more black when around people of color. For that BS to work, he would need to remain himself no matter the crowd. It was like a light switch that would turn on and off. It was weird, but fascinating in retrospect. I mean that guy was woke, and the term wasn't coined then."

"Woke?"

"You won't get it, and I am not about to bust a blood vessel talking to you about it, Grimes."

"All Lives Matter, Mich. My life matters. Your life matters. Everyone we know and don't know lives matter. Everyone should be treated fairly. I understand for the black community, very small here in King's County, doesn't seem to matter at all in comparison to the goal of All. I am aware that it's not fair or right or whatever on the treatment and the mindset that is ingrained."

"I want to cuss you out, right now."

"Mitch, you've cursed me out five times on this very topic in the last 6 months."

"I have no idea why you keep bringing this shit up."

If we weren't going back and forth with music lyrics, she was generally impressed if I memorized something from her list of great Authors. Michonne had a long list she had given me, and it included a couple of comic books that she adored. One book she had provided me for enlightenment purposes was written by James Baldwin, and she had some quotes that she had printed off from his other random works that we have discussed in the past. I began first to smooth the situation. I didn't want her to get out of the car and possibly walk off for a while.

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

She responded back with a quote. "It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have."

"The paradox of education is precisely this- that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated," I recited back.

"Anyone who has ever struggled with Poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor."

"That's why I understand that Black Lives Matter, Mich. It is our job as law enforcement to ensure that we treat everyone fairly, with dignity, and respect. No matter a person's race or color. That is what I have been trying to get across."

To her, to Michonne, I still didn't get it. It would take a few years later for me to really understand...

I hadn't fully realized how much of my headspace, my heart was filled with her and by her. I was changing, and the process was gradual at first. It wasn't overnight. The man that I had become or the man I was no longer could see that it was going to destroy everything that was safe, familiar and promised. I loved the debates we would have and the ideas and thoughts that came with communicating. Nothing was too dumb or stupid to discuss or taken for granted that it was understood. Sometimes we could sit for hours without saying anything because our connection was just being together in the same space whether confined to the cruiser or the office.

The more she began to talk about Montana, the more I saw myself watching her shiver to indicate that it was too cold. I could see myself standing with her at the base of a mountain and her eyes travelling upward when she realizes it's too steep of a climb compared to a hill. I wanted to watch her eyes widen with tears once she witnessed real people that were already rafting, because she would need me to hold her tissues once she went into full-blown hyperventilating. There was something about the idea that Michonne would more than likely try to endure the cold, climb that mountain, and step on to that raft with every life-saving apparatus strapped to her body that I wanted to witness. I secretly hoped more than ever that it included me.

Neither she nor I could control what was happening, we were destined like the River, winding down a path in whatever direction. It was the thought of the Road, The Mountain and The River that filled my heart with anticipation, longing, and desire. Together.

I was searching Whitewater Rafting Excursions when Lori came up from behind me while I was on the family computer in the living room where Carl would typically do his homework.

"What are you looking at?"

"Montana."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"What's in Montana?"

"I've been told fresh air."

"Rick, I don't want to go to Montana. I have no desire to go before you get your mind on a vacation that we can't afford. We have to save for Carl's future."

"Well, what about us? Where do we fit into Carl's future?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we have this life planned out for Carl, what is the plan for us?"

"I don't know honey. Grow old together. Grand children. What's got into you?" Lori kneeled where I sat at the desk one hand on the back of the chair and the other resting on my forearm.

"I'm asking a simple question, Lori."

"Rick, your question isn't that simple. I mean it is, but it seems like you are looking for me to say something and lately, I haven't been saying the right things, the way you want to hear them. You've been acting like you have a chip on your shoulders, and I am not sure why."

"I feel like there's nothing."

"What?"

"I feel like there's nothing to look forward to anymore."

"Where is this coming from, Rick?"

"What if I wanted to go to Montana?"

"To do what exactly?"

"To see it."

"To see what? Ice-capped mountains? Bears?"

It is quite startling when the person you're married to becomes someone unfamiliar. Similar to a phone that hasn't been hung up correctly and you just aren't willing to make it right by just picking it up and placing it on the cradle to stop the noise of the busy signal. I was sending her a message no matter how obscure it may have seemed to her. The thing with Lori is that she was sending me a message too, but I was the phone that wasn't connected properly. Our marriage had become an old phone, and we weren't necessarily old, just getting older.

"How old are _you_?"

"You have been trying to figure out my age and using the former existence of a frigging party line is not going to get you any closer, Grimes."

We were listening in on a conversation that was happening in a trailer less than a football field away. A few months ago we had arrested a few people inside. Wire-tap.

I wanted to ask Michonne about where she got her authority but I never did. We were doing a lot of things that stretched what _I_ in lower level law enforcement should have access to do or permitted without a warrant and even then I wasn't on the investigation unit. I had a feeling she carried Federal weight. Herschel had told me when she was assigned to me that I had to do whatever to get her an Andrea and the rest of the plague to leave King's County. Almost two years later the possible federal plague was still attached to our department, disguised as bringing big city views to our small town.

"Then why did you reference it if you never heard of it?" I had asked.

"Random knowledge. Around these neck of the woods, I am an MF Genius."

"MF?"

"Do you want me to say it?"

Mich sought permission from me to go back to her limited vocabulary. She was frustrated that she couldn't hear clearly what was being said by the three men inside of what may be a makeshift meth lab at this point. My partner has gone 48 hours without saying her favorite curse word that had Mother at the beginning. She usually keeps mother out of it all together, and now that I have made my point of her limited english she has been trying to refrain from cursing altogether. Well, she only uses the word at crime scenes that have dead bodies that have been left for days to rot, unexpected hoarders, Smart mouth meth addicts with rotten teeth or no teeth at all. Similarly overall.

 _About the teeth_...

"It's amazing what fascinates you, Mich."

"What should amaze you is the powerful drug like Meth or Heroin that can cause a person to forget about oral hygiene."

"Causes major weight loss too." I had pointed out.

"Probably because you have no teeth? What is your mind thinking as teeth are falling out of your mouth, and you aren't four years old but a grown ass individual?"

"Scary, huh?"

"Scary to have a drug that can have your mind so relaxed about the whole thing where you can still smile and beg for the very thing that has your teeth around your neck like a necklace."

"What person have you witnessed around here, Mich that is wearing their teeth as a necklace?"

"What could go through a person's mind to not have a single molar in their mouth?"

"Why were you looking down their throat?"

"Molars aren't located in the throat. When was the last time you've been to the dentist, Grimes?"

"I was going once a year until I was reassigned a partner that took it upon herself to care about what's going on with my oral health."

"I'm a positive influence. Don't you want to be known as that guy with pleasant smelling breath and a winning smile?"

"I'm not normally in a person's personal space."

"Just mine." Mich batted her eyes at me.

"I told you that your breath is always nice."

"Which was a weird observation."

"You are the most unusual person."

"I have a case study."

"I'm going to ban IPads in the cruiser."

"Knowledge is king, my friend."

"I have all this stuff swimming in my head, Mich. Can you give me a second to organize and compartmentalize random before you give me more?"

"You can juggle more. Now listen. It says here that two people that find each other's breath pleasing are more inclined to find themselves lip-locked. Lucky for us we have spouses that are the best cockblocks."

I was stunned. It was her uncanny ability to know what was on my mind and had been for some time, that bewildered me. How obvious was I? How transparent were the things I thought I had hidden, tucked away from verbal acknowledgement easily decipherable by her?

My brain pushed aside everything that Michonne had piled in, and concentrated on that nugget of BS. I mean, I refused to believe she found some case study about breath. I had found myself lost on more than one occasion if I were positioned face to face with Mich when she spoke. It didn't matter if it was in the office or in the Squad car. I found her breath pleasing, the fullness of her lips appealing and the gloss she wore when she couldn't find her chapstick, mesmerizing.

She had called me on it, and I am positive that was her way of calling me on it again. It was hard to keep eye contact when words were coming out of that fresh smelling sanitized cave that held pristine white teeth.

 _Yes, Mich, I want to kiss you. Would love to kiss you. I want to know more than I care to admit to myself how lips like yours compare to lips I have only known._ These private thoughts were mine to never act upon. My secretly controlled wildfire of desire was possibly sending smoke signals her way.

* * *

Smooth Life.

I was parked outside while Michonne ran inside. I wasn't aware that we were changing our eating habits again. Michonne called healthy eating, burger joints. Greasy eating was when we were randomly back on a diet of damn smoothies. I promised myself to put in for a new partner the second time this happened but we were on the 7th time in our two year union of Monkey See, Monkey do. I was the monkey.

"What's this?" I had asked her.

"We are back to greasy living, my traveling companion?"

"Why did we stop the healthy eating again?"

"We need to lose weight."

"We?"

"There is no way I am going to survive if you are biting down on a burger, Grimes. We have to do this together, or the chance of failure will be catastrophic."

"Catastrophic?"

"I have been speaking in Hyperbole for how long now? It's interesting you want to challenge my word usage when it comes to continued weight loss."

"For you?"

"For us."

"Remind me to always drive when it's around our chow time."

"Here, Grimes, you are going to like it."

"How does this random dieting work again?"

"Listen. I don't want to have to repeat myself. This is to replace the cheeseburger we really want to eat. If you drink this Green Smoothie, it will increase your life expectancy. Don't you want to live a long time?"

Michonne did an Asian impersonation from out of nowhere. I couldn't figure out the connection other than in a sexual way.

"What's in it?"

"Good, greasy, cheesy, mayo, all the works stuff. See? Mmmmm." I watched Michonne sip from her straw. "Now copy me."

I was reluctant. The 20-ounce smoothie was like a cup of green algae.

"Why didn't you get the strawberry banana for me? I like the Strawberry-."

"Put the straw to your lips, Grimes! Copy me." Her tone was full of exasperation.

I copied. Hesitantly. Michonne was more than someone new, different, she was Everything. And that smile blinded me to keep drinking that almost tasteless cup of sweet green foam, happily, as I smiled back at her.

* * *

We had our first witness to our indiscretion. It wasn't the reason why things happened the way they did, not by a long shot.

Michonne exited the bathroom first after giving me a slap on the ass to hurry it up. I had to take a piss. We had officially began resorting to having sex where ever and when ever. The Holiday Inn was the first time and it wouldn't be the last time if we kept it up while on the clock. It would take something really life altering to stop our spiraling out of control into the abyss. I washed my hands quickly and dried them off on an unused towel. The man in the mirror was different. My reflection indicated not a tinge of regret nor shame. This was the type of sex I wanted. She was the type of woman that I wanted it with and often, much as possible. Acknowledging this fact in the short time I spent in the bathroom would bleed over rapidly in to my marriage.

Alarms went off in my head when I didn't hear Mich talking to me through the door about what we were to do next. I had my gun out of my holster. I slowly opened the bathroom door to find our assailant had quietly returned and he had a gun pressed against Michonne's temple. I didn't think. I didn't ponder what to do next or have a conversation about it with the guy in a fancy suit holding the gun regarding his intentions nor did I tell him mine. I didn't hesitate. One glance into Michonne's eyes was enough for me, her hands up, trembling, tears, I took the headshot. Bullseye.

Blood was in her dreads, peppered her uniform, seeping towards the soles of her shoes. Mich was frozen in place. I went to her immediately and held her to me even when backup and the paramedics arrived. I didn't let her go until told to do so by her husband, Mike.

* * *

I had to tell Lori before word got to her from someone in the department. I didn't want Lori to find out that way. She was surprised that I made good with my promise to go with her to a mall that was thirty miles outside of King's County to find a pair of cleats for Carl while he was in school. We were in the food court. I had already gave Shane a heads up and he had sent a text that he was no more than five minutes away.

"You should have seen Carl's face when it was announced that he made the team. He was excited. It was-"

"I'm having an affair, Lori."

"...a dream come true for him. He was nervous that he wouldn't make the team because he thought a lot of the kids were way better players..."

"I didn't want you to find out from anyone that might tell you. I wanted to be the one to tell you. I'm having an affair."

"Is it with Mich?"

I nodded. I cleared my throat. "Yes."

"Why are you telling me? Was she going to beat you to it?"

"No. I don't know if her husband knows yet. Mich wouldn't tell you. She's not like that at all. If anything she would expect me to tell you."

"How long?"

"Just recent."

"Bullshit, Rick."

"Keep your voice down, Lori."

"How long have you known that you would do this?"

"I don't understand the question, Lori."

"Were you really sleeping over at Shane's the other night?"

"It wasn't the other night that I told you that-."

"That lie." My wife was trying to direct the conversation to answers that her mind needed answers for what she believed my very out of character behavior.

"Lori..."

"Was this your plan? To do this in public? To keep me from screaming at the top of my lungs or wallowing in tears?"

"I feel like shit."

"Just imagine what you have just done to me. To my heart. To the trust."

We sat there at the table farthest away from an occupied table of young women conversing and laughing about whatever, compared to the dark cloud that hovered over ours in silence.

"What are you going to do?" Lori finally asked me. I could tell she was struggling to hold back her tears.

"I want to be with her."

"Is that what she wants?"

"We haven't really talked about it."

"You want to throw away our marriage for someone that you haven't even discussed your future with or if she would even leave her husband?"

"I'm not sure we are there yet. We aren't sure."

"Just sure about stumbling in bed with each other?"

"Can you keep your voice down, Lori?"

"You were worried that someone would tell me. Who would have told me? Were you not discreet?"

I didn't want to go into details about what happened the day before with Michonne and I in the Holiday Inn. I wasn't sure if Lori was aware or cared that it was broadcasted on the news early that morning and it involved me having to kill someone. My mind was back on the blood that was in Michonne's hair. I should have been the one to help her wash it away, to console her.

 _"I want you to stop seeing her."_

 _My wife had every right to request it and or demand it from me, her husband. I wanted to be clear about any willingness to comply._

 _"I won't."_

 _"What?"_

 _"I won't."_

 _The silence was deafening between us. It was the only time where a person could almost compare life without sound for the briefest of seconds._

 _"I can't stop, Lori. I can't." The truth I spoke even though the words strained and twisted. I didn't expect to hurt so much to announce it. I didn't expect the tears to fall from my eyes that didn't fall from Lori's._

 _I was choked up about it. I felt deeply about it. What I felt for Michonne I had to express right then and hoped Lori would hear me out. This shit hurt. Awareness is a bitch._

 _"Maybe I can go a day. Maybe. Maybe I can take some time off of work or put in a request for reassignment for a new partner. I know what the right thing to do is. It is the right thing for you to have peace of mind, to sleep at night and busy yourself in the day without worrying about me trying to find a way to be with her without you finding out. The only reason you know about it in the first place is that I told you. You didn't stumble upon anything because I didn't want you to find out that way. You didn't deserve to find out that way. So to be clear, I won't stop and to say I will is to lie to you. The very fundamental thing that could keep us together is I would have to love you more than I love her. Do you know what it is like to feel something for one person and be obligated to another? I know, Michonne like the back of my hand. I am not saying this to hurt you, I am saying this to be clear, I will find a way to be with her."_

I sat there with a cup of her soda splashed in my face and her container of warm Chinese Noodles on top of my head. I wondered if being humiliated in public was better than Lori taking my revolver and just putting me out of my misery.

Lori exited the food court. She took the car and left. The moment that she did, Shane stepped up with a napkin.

* * *

A/N:

I have no idea how many people are truly interested in this story but it is or could be a mammoth. I have trimmed away the crazy and the last chapter will close out with Michonne.

For those who are new to how I write, I presented the bottom half of this chapter of how to take a puzzle piece written earlier and how in my mind it joins together chapters later. I don't think I will ever do it again but anyone who stumbles upon any of my stories after reading this may see the picture coming together faster. Not all the time but most of the time.

P.S. I am proofing All I Need. Will continue to proof this story.


	11. Aren't We Talking About A Lollipop?

"So many events and moments that seemed insignificant add up. I remember how for the last Valentine´s Day, N gave flowers but no card. In restaurants, he looked off into the middle distance while my hand would creep across the table to hold his. He would always let go first. I realize I can´t remember his last spontaneous gesture of affection."  
― **Suzanne** **Finnamore** , **Split: A Memoir of Divorce**

* * *

"Michonne..."

I listened to Rick clear his throat. He held his breath a couple of times, and he drummed the steering wheel with no particular rhythm.

"Yes, Rick?"

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"You said you could multi-task."

"Michonne...Michonne, Michonne, Michonne...UGHHHH. I...can't."

"Tell me what you can't do Rick?"

"I have to...yeah...Mmmph."

Rick couldn't share a coherent thought when I had asked him to tell me what song was playing in his head while I took out his microphone. The more it swelled and twitched I had to lick after the peck I gave it. I was pleasantly surprised that his scent turned me on even more and his tip began to lubricate for me. Lick. I was very naughty in broad daylight. I enjoy sex in a vehicle, and it didn't matter how uncomfortable it could be. It's just the idea of satisfying an itch and knowing the person you are with knows how to scratch it just right.

I don't think I would have stopped if he cried Uncle and admitted he wasn't very good at multi-tasking. His inability to focus on driving was evidence by him knocking over a few empty trash cans with the cruiser he was driving before coming to a complete stop. I didn't know what neighborhood we were in until the official complaint. Rick tried to drive off again to only hold up a stop sign a little too long in the process. The owner of the trash can took down our patrol car plate and number. The nosey Nathan was trying to have us cited for our unusual activity. I was curious about why the owner of the trashcan would instead think it was a possible drunk Deputy on duty instead of an officer stroking out.

"Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes, Michonne. Yes." He began to gasp, banging the back of his head against his headrest. I took him all the way to the brink. I licked, sucked. The sound effects of gagging and the suction of the POP had him, panting, grunting, struggling to keep from killing me with his pipe going too far down my throat when he wiggled a thrust for a prolong squirt. "Damn that was, incredible, Michonne. That was..."

He didn't finish his praising, and I noticed why when I sat up, wiping my lips with the back of my hand. My eyes went wide when I saw we were in a church parking lot and Pastor Gabriel had halted in making a beeline our way. Rick hurried and zipped himself.

"You and I are going to have a first class stamped tickets to hell; you know that Mich?"

"I'm Mich, now?"

We were partners in crime.

I could still taste him. A few hours later. I could still feel the texture going down my throat. Warm, salty sweetness, thick and overflowing like a never-ending eruption of a volcano. He was pumping forth like an automatic weapon.

I had to dodge my husband who was leaning in for a kiss which would usually lead to sex. I didn't want to be kissed by him, nor was I interested in Sex.

"What's up, Chonne? I brushed my teeth."

"I'm just not in the mood."

"Are you okay? It's unlike us to go this long," Mike pointed out our dry spells as if he was the only one who suffered through them.

"We have gone three weeks or more, Mike. Unusual would be to have sex every day."

"Is that what you want, Chonne?"

"What I want you can't give me."

"Why don't you try and ask me?" Mike settled back on to our bed.

I was silent. I had no idea what I wanted my husband to give to me that I would want from him. I felt lots of resentment towards him, towards our marriage and the broken promises.

* * *

 **Rick:** I'm waiting for you to come out.

 **Michonne** : You are welcome. I finished our reports.

 **Rick** : Come out. I'm in the cruiser.

I received a text from Grimes to come outside. Lucky for him I had finished our report on our most recent arrest. I was sitting in the passenger seat.

Now, I understood why I had received a box of my favorite chocolates in the whole world, because of what day it was. It was my favorite. I didn't care if Grime's was trying to sabotage my diet. I was going to find a corner somewhere in the world and stuff my mouth behind his back.

The flowers were propped in behind him in the backseat. The scent was wonderful, and it was one of the first things that I noticed when I had slid inside. I didn't say anything about them. I did spy that it was a unique selection. Based on what he had told me about Lori's taste in floral arrangements he was going to be in the doghouse.

"Don't worry I won't refuse your chocolate."

Little did he know, I wasn't planning on sharing. Who gives a gift and expects some from it? Grimes.

Yes, I was slow. It had finally dawned on me that Grimes was referencing a different kind of chocolate. It took my smile down a notch, increasing my curiosity after I noticed his neck and ears turn beet red. I have never met anyone of the opposite sex that was a shy flirt. I dismissed it as usual. It was our norm. Mixed Signals.

"I'm not sharing my chocolates. You've got this for me. Not for us."

"So we are back to healthy eating?"

"No, we are not. Damn you, Grimes. I have to share this shit with you. This is my favorite." I whined.

"Easily 10 pounds, IF you were to try to eat them all by yourself."

"Why get my favorites?"

"Because it is Valentines."

"I would have gotten you something if I had known that we were going to..."

"You got me something."

"I got you the same thing I gave everyone else inside, Grimes."

"Well you know I will suck your lollipop with a tootsie roll center."

"You noticed everyone got the bubble gum?" I couldn't hide my surprise on how astute he was with recognizing who got what.

"Yep." He was back to blushing again.

"How many licks do you think it would take for you to get to the center?"

He glanced right at me. A smile was threatening to break across his lips.

"I have to think about that, Mich." He slowly focused his attention on the dashboard.

"Where are you when you're thinking about it?"

"On the couch at home. In the shower."

"You seem like the type to get to the center quick."

"Probably because I want to get to the chocolate."

"If you were single..."

"Are you married if I am single?"

"If I were single too, we probably wouldn't be sitting here speaking code."

"What would we be doing?"

"I would smother you in chocolate."

"Yeah?"

"Now stop," I told him. I wanted him to behave. The only way to keep things harmless, one of us had to know when we were crossing over boundaries.

"What?! I was talking about licking a lollipop. Wasn't that what we were talking about, Mich? How many licks does it take to get to the center?"

I wanted to hit him with the box of chocolates. Asshole. I hate when he keeps a solemn face as if I'm crazy to think he was referring to more than the sweet cocoa confection.

I was going to hold his feet to the fire and twist his tongue. The way to do it was to address the elephant bouquet in the backseat. All of the flowers that I liked. If he were giving it to his wife, it would have been okay by me. He was a man willing to take the risk it seemed. It was odd, and I was envious.

Lori was a lucky wife to have Rick. I had to remind myself of this every day. The grass may look greener on the other side, but you never know what weeds are growing until you own the lawn. Sometimes I would trespass. I never really had his explicit permission and neither would he have mine. I began to notice more and more that we shared the same issues, concerns, and craved the same things. We were fertilizing each other with unusual concoctions since neither of us was getting it naturally from just the water and sun that represented our spouses.

"What is that?"

"That is what your husband should have gotten you."

"He didn't."

"I know."

We sat through a very long pause inside of the car. We watched Shane, Abe, and Andrea come outside of the building deep in conversation. I had diverted my eyes to the most beautiful bouquet of flowers in the backseat for a moment too long. I realized this and focused on my box of chocolates.

"You have excellent taste in selecting an arrangement." I complimented.

"Not one single rose." He informed in a tone that puzzled me more than anything. He was sending me a signal.

We weren't aligned with each other when we spoke at that time. We were both afraid and tried to throw the other off when things got too hot. No matter what we wanted to do, we fell into that trance of dialing it up and down until we spoke the same language. We both desired the same things. Action and Appreciation.

"It looks like something I would love, but you said that Lori like's Roses. You are not allowed to mess up on Valentine's Day, Grimes."

"She does like roses."

"What will she think about those?"

"I have no idea. This would be a major fuck up if those flowers were for her."

What he had said didn't register. He kept his eyes focused on everything around me but not directly at me as I spoke.

"Brave soul you are. When a wife specify what they want as far as preference for one thing over another, a husband should listen. If Lori has told you that she prefers roses, I would suggest that you exchange those for something else."

"I am not exchanging it."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not for Lori."

"Who are they for, Grimes? Today is Valentines Day. Women are expecting at least a box of chocolate. Valentines Day is important. Like an anniversary. The day can vanish but what remains is the memory of receiving the wrong thing or nothing at all."

"What did your husband get you last Valentines Day?"

"Nothing, and it was magically the same invisible thing the Valentines before that and before that."

"Has it always been like that?"

"No. Not in the beginning. He says we are too old to celebrate it. The hot intern wasn't too old to receive a little something-something. Receipts indicated he purchased some jewelry around that time, perfume, flowers, wine, hotel..." I drifted off.

I had no idea why the hell I went there. To go there was to re-live the shit. To feel hurt, disappointed, and angry wasn't what I wanted to take over a good day. I had opened the drawer where I had it folded and buried down deep where I kept all the good things on top. The good stuff represented buoyancy to keep our marriage afloat. To find all the negative was to discover a very heavy anchor which could only stall progress or to sink an empty ship. My drowning was by my design. Fighting tears was like trying to fight air that I needed to live. Futile.

"I would have never done that to you if I were your husband." He whispered. His words broke the dam.

Only the music was playing in the background to keep the cruiser from the heavy silence.

Rick had his hand outstretched over the armrest. His hand was open, palm down grazing the back of my hand. I couldn't look at him to decipher his intentions. I tried to avoid his eyes at all cost. Hesitant, I turned my palm upward, and he lowered his hand, even more, to slide his fingers to entwine with mine. First time in my life I felt safe in that intimate contact. The squeeze of reassurance pressed my heart to beat with hope. I knew then it wasn't the end of the world but an awesome rediscovery.

"You don't have a tissue do you?"

"Nope."

"You want to use my shirt sleeve?"

I chuckled. "I have my own." I began to wipe what I could with my right since he still held on to my left.

His words caused me to look away from my passenger window to find him staring out of his driver side. "I mean it, Michonne. I would have never done that to you."

"The way you speak is peculiar, Deputy Grimes." I forced a smile wiping my nose on my shirt sleeve. "I mean, of course, you would have never done that to me because you aren't my husband. I will admit that it is refreshing to know that you would never do that to Lori. Very admirable. But I am quite sure you are aware of that saying, never say Never?"

"I would more than likely do it with you but not to you, Michonne."

"What?" I wasn't sure I heard him.

"If anyone could tempt me or if I have ever been tempted, I can say only you. Only you."

Paranoia began to set in because I wasn't sure if I was losing my hearing or I heard what I wanted to hear. I thought for a long time that I was projecting on to Rick my desires that weren't necessarily his until he confirmed it right then.

"The flowers are for you, Michonne."

I had exited the car with my flowers. Rick came inside the station a minute or two later. I had the attention of most everyone.

"Rick's Mich has flowers."

"Are you okay, Rick's Mich?" The question surprised me. I realized that my eyes must still appear that I had been crying.

"When did you get those, Rick's Mich?"

"Wow. Those are beautiful, Deputy Benton." Herschel commented before going into his office. He was the only one that never referred to me as Rick's Mich.

"Your husband is making us all look bad here, Rick's Mich."

"Please don't tell my wife you got something as magnificent..."

Rick's desk was across from mine. He was pretending to be oblivious to all the hoopla and attention that I happily flaunted, front and center. I love flowers.

Andrea sent a picture of me smiling with my flowers with a message for me to post to my husband, 'job well done.' I watched Rick's facial expression as his phone vibrated while he was talking to Sheriff Herschel. He took a look at what I sent him. He avoided glancing my way. From where I sat I could see his neck and ears take on a slightly different hue.

 **Mich** : What are you doing?

 **Rick** : Getting ready for bed. You should be doing the same.

 **Mich** : I can't sleep.

 **Rick** : _You_ can't sleep?

 **Mich** : No.

 **Rick:** **_I_ **can sleep.

 **Mich** : You can't sleep and Text.

 **Rick** : Maybe that's the reason **you** can't sleep?

 **Mich** : What kind of friend are you?

 **Rick** : A friend with solutions to _YOUR_ problem.

 **Mich** : My problem?

 **Rick** : It's not _ours_.

 **Mich** : Why not?

 **Rick** : Because **I** can go to sleep. I have no problems with shutting my eyes and dreaming.

 **Mich** : What do you dream about?

 **Rick** : I'm not letting you in my head. Boundaries.

 **Mich** : Okay. Boundaries.

 **Rick** : Go to sleep!

 **Mich** : Goodnight

Within a few seconds, my phone began to vibrate. He was calling me. I answered without saying anything. He didn't say anything at first. We were both quiet for a long time.

"Where's your husband, Mich?"

"Talking to me."

"Your real husband?"

"He has Andre over at his parents. They are staying overnight. Where's your wife?"

"Not sleeping like she should be sleeping. She keeps texting me as if we haven't spent all day in the cruiser together."

"I'm talking about your real wife."

"Sleeping."

"Where are you?"

"Outside in the backyard of my home sitting under a tree talking to my pretend wife. Where are you?"

"In bed. I'm lying on the same mattress, you know."

"Reason number one why I would like to be in bed right now. I have a clue to what a good nights rest feels like."

"Or what it would feel like to be in my bed?"

"Not sure if the two are the same thing."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I'm not comfortable with this, Mich."

"Okay."

"No, it's not okay. I know the difference between your Okay and _Okay_."

"Good Night, Rick."

I hung up. I tossed my phone on the empty side of my bed and pounded my fist into the mattress out of frustration. My phone was vibrating again, and I refused to answer. This conversation never happened, and when morning came, I would make sure to act neutral which he considered icy. Fifteen minutes later my doorbell was ringing. I checked the time, and it was officially after midnight. I could see the shadow from the privacy glass that surrounded the front door of my home.

"It's me, Mich."

I unlocked and opened the door to find Rick looking flustered.

"Why aren't you answering your phone?"

"Your comfort is very important to me, Rick."

"You need to hear me out."

"You want me to back off it's not a problem."

"Why do I feel like we have a problem?"

" _Do_ _we_ have a problem?"

"A big problem with one solution **if** we continue."

"You came over here."

"I would not have if your real husband was here."

"He's not here."

"Reason _why_ I am here."

"To discuss a problem that I don't have?"

"We have a problem, Michonne."

"I'm Michonne, now?"

"This problem isn't work-related, you know that?"

"Tell me more about this problem."

"I refer to it as Michonne."

"So we are getting somewhere. _I'm_ your problem."

"We are very reckless."

" _You_ came to my home."

"You weren't answering your phone, Mich."

"I'm standing here with my door open, and I am not any the wiser to this problem we are having."

"Do you normally answer your door dressed like that?"

 _OH my god_.

I had on a sexy negligee with a see-through robe meant for my real husband who had informed me after the fact he wasn't coming home. Here I stood in front of my pretend husband in all of my God-given chocolate skin glory. I was going to play this shit off like all was good in this neighborhood.

Rick was scoping me out quickly while trying and failing at keeping eye contact or remaining eye level.

"Do you have a problem?"

"I should arrest you for indecent exposure."

"I've exposed myself to my husband."

"I am not your husband. I am an officer of the law. Deputy fucking Sheriff." He stepped closer to me where he had my back pressed into the door jam.

"Hands up?"

"Yes."

I put my hands up above my head, and he held them there with one hand while his other hand grabbed my hip, and he pressed me firmly against his hard-on. My body had a mind of its own. My pussy wanted to taste, but my pelvis and thigh were the only two areas that were christened as we began to dry hump right there in the darkness. I wondered if he was going to kiss me. His mouth was so close to mine. He wasn't at the right angle, and it didn't really matter because my body was on fire, my G-string panties were wet. The way he was getting off on the random parts of my body I knew he would come in no time and my pussy wept with need.

"I want you, so bad, Michonne." His voice was husky with desire.

"Take me. Please take me." I begged.

The headlights of a car startled us both out of our trance. Rick stumbled away, running his hand through his hair trying to regain his composure, heading back to his car. We both had our boundaries up the next morning, and a couple of days later we were kissing on my couch in my home.

* * *

Mike had made no comment about my appearance nor what was at my feet. I clipped and couldn't stop. He was standing in the doorway of our bedroom.

I was placed on mandatory leave due to the events. I came back to work for a few days after trying to rationalize that I didn't need the counseling. During that time it was impossible to keep Rick at arm's length. He didn't question my actions at first. My amnesia is what got under his skin when he tried to take my hand or communicate that he would give it all up and that we could just run away together.

Things were just falling apart. I had never been so close to death. I blamed myself for it.

I had to stop. Nothing good can come from it. I had to get my mind right. Sheriff Herschel felt it was best that I got a psych eval before I was allowed back on the force.

"I should have known."

Mike's voice the only sound that gave the home we shared a more obvious hollowness. If it weren't for Rick giving me a heads up to what Lori had done, I wouldn't have had any clue to what my husband was alluding to. I would have come across as playing dumb.

"The way you were holding on to each other. I had to tell him to let me have my wife. Never occurred to me that he has had my wife. My wife. You were looking for any bullshit excuse to leave that night." Mike accused accurately.

Things were clicking into place at lightning speed. One cheater to another. He knew very well the cards I had in my hand, the play was equal to a losing hand for one of us. Because of my actions, Mike was going to be the one able to leave with dignity, unscathed. My vindictiveness had him feeling vindicated.

"You did this, Chonne. You went out there, and it wasn't like you didn't know. You didn't fucking care, and for me, that is a hard pill to swallow to know that my wife has fucked around on me. I mean, you made me feel like shit every time I came home, Chonne. You have this way of making a person feel like shit, not worth shit. Yet you can sit there as if you don't give a shit. It wasn't my goal to go out and hurt you. To this day I have questioned my motives. You weren't a bad wife. The shit that I said about you was wrong. If I have regrets, it was going behind your back."

"You had said some cruel things, Mike. You told her a lot of personal shit."

"Narrative that wasn't all true. I know that, Chonne."

"She believed you. She believed what you told her about me, about us."

"I know."

"You know, but you aren't sorry."

"How is it you're turning this shit back on me?"

"I couldn't understand how you couldn't stop. I had confronted you twice, and each time you lied. I gave you a third time to confess, you decided to keep me quiet and to keep our family intact, you moved with Andre and me. That was your only admission of guilt then. Your willingness to do what it takes to stop was to put miles between you and her."

"Doesn't justify what you have done, Chonne. He's a fucking married man. We were in their Damn home."

"On our God Damn Anniversary, you fucking bastard."

"I'm a bastard now? Okay. What does it make you?"

"A God Damn fool."

"I don't know what to fucking do with all of this right now, Chonne, and I don't know if I have answers."

"What is it that you don't know? Try asking me. The difference between you and I, I will tell you. No matter how you rephrase the question, you will get the same answer. Not a damn lie. Not a response that makes you question your own sanity and if you could be responsible. Ask me, Damn it."

"Fuck you, Chonne."

"You know, I couldn't understand why you weren't strong enough for me, for us. I obsessed over it. You of all people know my mind. I couldn't resolve it, and you wouldn't answer my questions about what was going on in your mind to do it to me, to us. You made it seem like I was crazy. I was to blame. Paranoid. We get here, and we tried to begin again. I wanted it more than sanity, and believing whether or not I should be responsible for your cheating, because I put my career before you."

"We were compromising on the wrong things moving here."

"I thought forgiving you, would bring back trust. It took all of this for me to realize there would never be any trust without understanding. I didn't understand it until now. How it grabs you like a madness. I'm walking in your shoes, Mister."

"Do you love him?"

"Did you love her?"

"You forgave me, Michonne."

"Can you forgive me?"

The fist in the wall was our answer. Mike didn't love the girl he fucked, but it was what destroyed our marriage. There was a significant startling difference between two cheaters in that bedroom that day. My husband was fucking to fuck. I fucked around and fell in love.

My life was a mess. I began to wonder if it would have been better if the man that held a gun to my head should have pulled the trigger because a decision had to be made knowing that Lori had already talked to my husband. I spent a week in complete shock. Nowhere to go, I found myself in Andrea's open arms.

"I love what you did. New look?" Andrea made the first acknowledgment.

"I wish I was aware of what the hell I was doing. By the time I got a hold of myself, it was done and piled around my feet."

"Still recognizable to that crazy wife of his I bet."

"I can't find any better place to hide out than here, Andrea. I have Rick's wife showing out whenever and wherever. I'm tired and ready to medicate myself with chocolates. Please tell me again that I can stay for a while?"

"Of course you are welcome here, Rick's Mich."

"Please stop." I sat inside of Andrea's kitchen on a stool watching her cook more food than necessary.

"I think it's cute. Grimes had laid claim to you before you were even aware." Andrea winked at me.

"Don't wink at me."

"Who would have thought that you and I would come to this sleepy ass town and find two men that can make us swoon?"

"Who's swooning? I've just doused my real life with Kerosene."

"When was the last time that you talked to him?"

"Face to face, I've avoided. Text not so much. On the phone more than I care to admit."

"What?"

"I've been able to avoid him. I haven't been able to avoid texting him, and we have been on the phone talking more than I have ever talked to anyone in my whole life. Is that English enough for you?"

"If you could speak as well as I know you can and the way your stellar reports are showcased, we wouldn't have so many misunderstandings. I told Shane that you were trying to work things out with your husband."

"I said I was trying to not sink a ship, didn't say anything about saving."

"To me, it translated that you were trying to save your marriage."

"I was out of my mind, Andrea. I realized I had to walk the plank and not sink with it."

"Does Rick understand you?"

"Most times. When he doesn't, he ask. Generally speaking, he knows how to take things in context."

"Lucky for him he had his body camera still on when he was having sex with you in the Holiday Inn."

"Oh, my God."

"Deanna, at headquarters in DC was trying to tie Rick and Shane for a few things and with the Killing of the Federal Agent..."

"How were we to know he was an agent? He didn't say anything. He didn't say a word before Rick came out of the room. No one told me we had more planted here. How in the fuck could we have another big fucking misunderstanding?"

"He had just arrived, and you two were fucking in his bathroom."

"The only thing that crossed my mind was that we were caught. He grabbed me with a gun to my head. He didn't once say he was a federal agent, Andrea."

"I believe you, Michonne. Keep in mind Rick didn't give the guy a chance. Shot him. I had Noah in the Investigative Unit, confiscate every sordid detail of you and Grimes, including conversations in the cruiser to show that you two weren't complicit in anything more than an out in the open affair."

"We weren't out in the open."

"Okay, Rick's Mich."

"We were not out in the open."

"What were you doing at the Honky Tonk Bar and Inn."

"Dancing."

"Okay. The next morning when you both came out of the Inn together?"

"Leaving."

"Do you understand where Rick's Mich came from?"

"Shane."

"Why would other's repeat it?"

"Jealousy."

"Why didn't you stop the department from referring to you as, Rick's Mich?"

It was the first time that I realized how blatant, Rick and I were as my mind began to rewind to the times in the office where we were actually attached to the hip. We spoke like we were a couple. I was his office wife, and he was my office husband. In the cruiser, at home, and in our private dreams did we fantasize it into reality. I was lost in thought when I realized that Andrea was still talking.

"Noah also found some links that tied our Dead Agent to the crime ring that got their hands on that payload to help increase the potency of the Meth on the streets. I told Shane. I had made it official through one of our heated sex romps that I am a Federal Agent."

"You did what?"

"It slipped out."

"How did it just slip out?"

"If shit goes south, I want it on record. He has the money."

"He has it?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Oh, my fucking God. That makes me..."

"Complicit? I helped with Shane's fucking report. They played us, Michonne."

"Am I going to prison?"

"You plan to say something?"

"I don't want to go to prison, Andrea."

"From what Shane has said your destination was Montana."

"How does he know?"

"Rick."

"I'm not going to Montana without an RV to get me there."

"Dale has arranged that."

"Your husband? Why?"

"I had him clean the money. He said it was clean, but I wanted the shit squeaky clean. Untraceable. Offshore accounts."

"Dale would do that for you?"

"Dale would do anything for me. He's a lobbyist, not a fucking Saint."

"How does this open marriage thing work?"

"It doesn't. It's two people acknowledging that the other person isn't enough. Then I meet Shane, and he is all that I want. He has shown me that love isn't open to everyone and anyone. I have never been in love before, and it feels really darn good. I had never thought I would jeopardize my career and never understood those who would or have but now..."

"I would at least like to have had a choice in the matter. I didn't know. Are you sure, Rick...?"

Andrea nodded.

"Why wasn't I aware of this?" I questioned everything.

 _"You are aware now, right?" Andrea had her hands on her hip as she watched me have a less than controlled meltdown in her kitchen_  
 _._  
 _"Yes," I admitted._

 _"What do you plan to do?"_

 _"Hand in my letter of resignation."_

 _"Why would you do that?"_

 _"Because I have nothing if I don't have my integrity on the job. There is a strict code regarding conduct and what I did was very unbecoming of an officer."_

 _"What the hell, Michonne?" Andrea wasn't buying my shit._

 _"What the hell." I placed my head on Andrea's kitchen counter. My mind and heart were at war._

 _"Rick's wife came at you. She was the one to make a scene. You kept it classy."_

 _"Rick's wife also told my husband. The reason I am staying here with you, Andrea."_

 _"No one knows anything concrete. I am not going to tell, and I'm pretty sure that Shane won't."_

 _"I have to live with this." I lamented._

 _"You were planning on doing that if Mike would have never found out."_

 _Andrea was right. I was planning on taking this to my grave had things gone the other way._

 _"How long do you plan to not work?"_

 _"I have money, Andrea. I may be a flawed character just like you, but I do pay my bills. I am not a freeloader."_

 _"That's my peanut butter granola bar you are eating, though. It was the last one, Michonne."_

 _"Well, you said I was welcome."_

 _Andrea balled up a napkin and threw it at my chin. I took that very same napkin and got her back._

 _The doorbell rang. I didn't know she was expecting anyone and the look on her face indicated that she was having a little party and I was the last to know. I darted to my room leaving her right there in the kitchen._

 _"You are invited, Michonne!" She shouted my invitation at my back._

 _My response was the slamming of my door._

* * *

 _Are you going to join us?_

 _What kind of Fuckery did I just walk my black ass into? Shit!_

 _"Yeah! Why don't you do that." Shane snickered. Andrea gave him an elbow, "What?" Shane frowned, his attention was on Andrea who wasn't happy with the arrangement or possible reveal._

Rick stood from the couch. I took one step back. His eyes had the look of surprise at seeing me ready to retreat. I didn't want an introduction to his mother. I didn't want that to happen. Not when we were still tied to other people. I had so many questions that weren't formulated in my head. I had one answer to his mother's question.

"No." I turned to retrace my steps to my room.

"Michonne...Don't."

My mind commanded my feet to keep moving but my heart had them stopped.

"Turn. Turn, please and let me see you."

See me? Such a strange request. See me?

"I love it. I didn't think you could look any more amazing. I love it."

I had cut all of my dreads off. The idea that someone's blood could some how have trapped and dried no matter how much I soaked them, allowed even a natural hair stylist to soak them did not ease my mind. I had to cut them.

"You do?" I turned to face him. He was still over by the couch and I was more in the hall but still somewhat visible to our audience.

"I do." I watched him swallow. He was flustered and turning pinker by the second. "This is my mom."

"I thought it was another woman."

"I can't even imagine the drama if I allowed Shane to fix me up with someone just because I am no longer with Lori. I didn't leave my wife to mess around."

"Did he just rat on me?" Shane shook his head in disgust.

"It would have appeared that way if you were here with anyone else, Rick. I was ready to possibly make a scene. I don't know. I am glad that you know to not have another woman in the same warped space with me."

"I know. You would have been very upset."

"You wouldn't been able to explain nothing to me, you know."

"Boy do I know."

"I would have changed my number."

"I would have sent you a thousand messages and called your number a thousand time before you got around to doing that."

"I would leave this place."

"I would have an APB out for a Mercedes Benz RV."

"I wouldn't forgive you, Rick."

"I know. I know what I need to do from this point forward."

"Honest dialogue."

"Even when it borders on a language all our own."

"Don't keep things from me."

"I don't think I could even if I tried. _My conscious is clean, no need for soap_."

The song playing in his head was Persia. It made me smile and cry at the same time.

"It's going to take some time, you know?" I questioned if he was aware that it was going to happen over night. We had kids to think about during this process of separating them from what was most familiar and comfortable to something that seemed unpredictable. The challenges before us weren't small or something easily swept aside.

" _I said I'd try for you_." His response to me sent thousands of butterflies my way.

" _Please let me try for you_." My response seemed to send those very butterflies his way.

" _And this is far beyond what I thought I'd ever do._ " We both spoke the line together from the Until the Ribbon Breaks, Persia.

The only thing I heard was Shane. Shane has a way of being heard at all times. I had the ability to tune him out most times. We still didn't get along but for the sake of being on the same team we did a lot of grinning and bearing it. I led Rick to my bedroom where we embraced and kissed quietly. He gave me a spare key to an RV that he acquired while the threesome in the other room continued to talk.

"What kind of shit is this?" Shane asked. "Excuse my language, Mother Ella."

"Do either of you know what's going on? I have questions." Mother Ella looked to Shane and Andrea sitting before her.

"Ms. Grimes, I think you have a clue." Andrea responded and she didn't care if she came off kind of short.

"My son has left his family for _her_?" Mother Ella marveled at the idea.

"You thought at first coming here that it may have been for me. Does it make it any better or worse to know that he risked everything to be with _her_?" Andrea was curious to how the older woman would answer her question.

"I don't understand any of this." Mother Ella refused to answer knowing she was at risk at not appearing progressive.

Shane found the words to help make the situation more palatable to his friends mother or least an understanding.

"Don't worry about it, Mother Grimes. You aren't alone. Those two have this way of communicating that makes us feel like outsiders looking in on something spectacularly strange. There's an attraction and it's pretty much a done deal. I know you don't see it. Hell, I don't see it. Most of the world won't see it either but if you last long enough around those two, you will feel it. You would feel their connection whether you understand it or not. Your son told me before coming over here that he is madly in love with Michonne. In love is shit that can't be described if you haven't experienced it first hand. All we got as outsiders is actions. How the person acts and what they do. For us not in love people it seems, crazy, reckless and delusional, but for Rick and Michonne it's just the right person has come along to give them the go ahead to pull the pin out of the grenade."

"For us not in love people?" Andrea questioned the only thing that stuck out to her.

"Listen to the story without trying to apply it to our life. I've rocked your world and if I keep coming back it's because you are rocking mine."

* * *

A/N: I failed. I thought I was going to end with Michonne. It will end with Rick.

This chapter has a lot of words. (No more tears Amberjoy)

There are More words than I care to proof. I would have to drink a whole bottle of wine. This is a glimpse of how it would have had the Foxhole based on what Andrea reveals and it was actually the original story that I shaved into oblivion to make it more digestible or to see if I could write a simple story without the layers of crazy. I failed again.

P.S. Thank you to all that continue to read and re-imagine Richonne.

P.S.S. Are you taking Jabs Andydanai at my Scream Into Madness? LOL.


	12. I Should Have Kissed You

"What a strange world it is where you can have as much sex as you like but love is taboo. I'm talking about the real thing, the grand passion, which may not allow affection or convenience or happiness. The truth is that love smashes into your life like an ice floe, and even if your heart is built like the _Titanic_ you go down. That's the size of it, the immensity of it. It's not proper, it's not clean, it's not containable."  
 **― Jeanette Winterson, The Powerbook**

* * *

Shane and I were in the spotlight again. This was a clear indication we were going down without any options. Straight to prison. My mental delay was to blame. I should have fought to remain his partner instead I was blinded by this woman who seemed to have this way of keeping me on my toes when I didn't want to obey or give her credit for her uncanny ability to spot bullshit.

Her dreadlocks in the sun had more of a reddish-brown hue to them, something I had never noticed before until I saw her standing there at the public park where she was doing her stretches. I was there to thank her. Thank her for whatever she did to get the internal investigation to close its case.

"What are you doing here?" She glanced my way to acknowledge my presence before going back to what she was doing.

"How else would I talk to you?"

"Cellphone. Text. Pigeons." Michonne offered.

"From my lips to your ears, Thank you."

"For what?"

To respond would indicate possible guilt or how much I was complicit. I chose instead to watch the way she was able to contort her body, muscles flexing from her thigh and calves while she lunged and squatted. The black shorts she wore left enough to the imagination, sparking mine to wonder if her ass was hard or Charmin soft. Those thoughts had my body alive, my senses were more acute.

My gratitude out of the way, I was cognizant that this was strangely exciting. To feel a rush. To feel like a younger version of myself where I was once unsure about the opposite sex. For months I was able to stop myself from thinking, dreaming, wishing, hoping, daring to capture or deepen our connection. This would in turn cause me to doubt and wonder in the middle of the night if I had mis-read Mich. The next day I would try to focus on crime only to crave the very thing that had me eager to spend long hours in the squad car. Communication and finding common ground was something we established, ideas we explored. We began to discover quite a bit about each other.

"I haven't run in a while." I had informed Mich.

"I believe it." She remarked without stopping what she was doing.

"I have never run here either." The park had hardly anyone around. No children were running or families at the hour we were there.

"You were born and raised in _this_ town?" Michonne was trying to make a joke. I smiled to let her know that I caught it when she finally glanced my way.

"You have a set path?"

"Always."

Her movements were amazing. I could watch her all day with cold showers provided during intermission. I had hoped she wouldn't have been any the wiser to the hard on I was trying to fight just watching her if she was actually providing a show.

"I thought I would come out here and run with you."

"Why?"

"Well, you've talked about a running partner. How you wished you had one." I had provided her with my reasoning for being there.

"There was a story that came with that. I want you to tell me what I said about a running partner. I need to know where your mind was, _and_ is, Grimes."

This was my quiz. We were developing this code talk of sorts, and Mich needed to figure out if I was fluent. I was not.

"You were talking about how you wished you had a running partner. Someone to keep pace. Healthy eating and living are important things that should have a place in everyone's life to build up stamina, endurance, and overall wellbeing."

"Was that all you heard, Grimes?" She stopped her stretch routine.

I had to keep my eyes staring into hers, or she would know that I have just ravaged her body with my eyes.

"It was what I got from it." I lied. It was my first bold-lie. I was cloaked in denial.

"We were watching Abe and his girlfriend Rosita jog. They jog almost every morning before their shifts. I said that it was sexy as fuck to see two people in sync. I said I wish I could get my husband to run with me. A nice feeling to have someone you care about, care about the same things. Not all things but some. I had asked you for advice about it. Don't know why because _your_ wife doesn't exercise and I've yet to hear anything that indicates you both enjoy some things together. Either way, I realized I must pick my battles."

"I know I am not your husband, Mich."

"If you were I would totally have sex with you right here and now."

"What?"

I was baffled by what was said and the lone tear that left her eye. She turned her face abruptly and wiped away any evidence that she was ready to break down. I pretended to not see it. I waited for her to regain her composure.

Sex? Okay. I couldn't connect the dots when it came to Mich in the beginning. It took more than a year to develop our language, almost two years to become proficient. This was a few months before Valentines.

"Do you know how happy it would make me if my husband appeared right where you are standing, Grimes? Don't you get it?"

"I'm still trying to get you, Mich. Sometimes I think I understand. A lot of times, I'm not sure and what I'm not sure about could make things really awkward."

"Tell me something that you wish Lori would do that would give you a hard-on?"

My breathing stopped. I instantly felt the heat on my face, and my ears were hot. The first thing that came to mind was if Lori would start dropping to her knees when I got out the shower in the morning and gave me a blowjob. A blowjob before work would be a dream, a fantasy come true. I wasn't about to tell Mich, but it was something that came to mind.

The moment it came to mind was the very second I switched out my wife, Lori for Michonne. Now, if Mich wanted to drop to her knees, I don't think I would have the will-power as a happily married man to stop her. I could see myself never making it to the job on time or anywhere that was expecting me to show up. I would want that from Michonne and a few other things from my work partner, my only female friend who was not my wife.

I was mesmerized by these thoughts and Michonne's lips. I could tell that Mich found her chap-stick. I would request lip-gloss.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Stare at my lips. Do I need more chap-stick?"

"I prefer lip-gloss." I had officially lost my mind to allow my dick to speak on my behalf on how it preferred a blow job with glossy lips that belong to her.

"What?" Michonne was confused by what I spouted as a preference in my fantasy. Cherry flavor.

I had to shake myself from my line of thinking. My dick was coming alive, and I didn't dare observe the bulge that was now becoming less flaccid. I wanted Mich to remain eye level or better yet, paranoid about her lips.

"There is nothing that Lori could do to get me hot and bothered other than maybe want to go on a long drive with no real destination in mind." I hoped I understood what Michonne was alluding.

"You would have sex in the car?"

"I wouldn't be against it. Parked somewhere. Discreet."

"In a car?"

"Sounds better than in the wide open of a public park." I shrugged looking around the wide open space. There was only a few spots that were dense with trees and bushes.

"I've never done it in a park before in my life. I would probably take him behind some bushes and drop to my knees and suck him off."

" _What?"_

I was beginning to believe Michonne had some type of mental telepathy or she was the absolute woman of my dreams.

My eyes didn't match the sound of my _What?_ My eyes were the size of saucers, and my _What_ was similar to someone having the wind kicked out of them. It was the very moment that I wished I was her husband. I wished it hard which was counter-productive to wanting my lower member to go soft.

"You are doing it again, Grimes. Do I have something on my lips? You are supposed to tell me. Not stare at them. I have to go to my car now. Ughh. I think I have my lip gloss."

I stopped Mich from walking off.

"Nothing is wrong with your lips, Mich. You have nice lips. I sometimes stare at them because I can't believe what comes out of them. That's all. Are you ready to run?"

"Oh." Michonne wore the look of relief before informing me of what I needed to do before starting on our very first run together. "You haven't stretched yet, Grimes."

Her eyes began to take in _all_ of me. Everything about me. I didn't mind other than the one thing that was obvious _and_ swelling. It was stretching to come alive and she was its favorite audience _if_ she kept sizing me, or It up, biting on her lower lip.

"I'm stretched, Mich."

I got her to laugh.

Now that stretched out member had come close to a baptism. I ached like never before knowing that Michonne and I had almost taken it there, less than an hour ago, outside her fucking front door. I sat in my car thinking about just how close we had come. She smelled so good. Whatever fragrance she was wearing still lingered on my person. Damn. She really smelled incredible. Her body and what I could see was more than I ever imagined. Her body wanted me even when I had no control of my own. She wants me.

My forehead rested on my steering wheel as I sat for several long minutes in my open garage in the dark. A song Mich had added a few weeks ago to my playlist seemed to summarize everything. Chris Brown:

 _I should've kissed you_  
 _I should've told you how I feel_  
 _I should've kissed you_  
 _I should've showed you just how I feel_

I wanted to go back. I wanted too. If Michonne had called me to return before I had reached my driveway, I am 100% sure I would have been right back at her house, but she didn't call. She didn't text.

I waited. Phone in my hand I stood in the bathroom unable to go to bed because the way we were pressed together less than an hour ago, had my body and mind on overload. I sent her a text.

Rick: Now I can't sleep

Mich: You should have never come over here.

Rick: I'm waiting for you to admit that I am right.

Mich: We have a problem.

Rick: Now you understand?

Mich: I hate you.

Rick: Would make things easier.

Mich: Where are you?

Rick: In my bathroom.

Mich: Doing what?

Rick: Thinking about taking a cold shower

Mich: Are you that hot?

Rick: Yes.

Mich: What song is playing in your head?

Rick: It's one that is on repeat

Mich: Yeah?

Rick: Can't sleep because of it.

Mich: Tell me

Rick: Why am I mad, I don't get it,  
It seems like every time you give me signs, and I miss it  
I did it again  
I admit it  
I left you standing there, and now I regret it

Mich: Chris Brown?

Rick: Yes.

Mich: You should have. I thought you were going to.

Rick: I should have. I can't sleep because of it.

Mich: Just that? That's enough for another shower?

Rick: That and the more than that.

Mich: How cold?

Rick: Ice cold.

Mich: You are hot.

Rick: You?

Mich: I don't like cold showers.

Rick: What's the plan?

Mich: It's multi-colored. Long. Thick. Vibrates. I think my Kat may like it. I just took it out of my drawer.

Rick: Drawer?

Mich: Nightstand. Where else?

Rick: You keep it that close?

Mich: Why would I want it so far away?

Rick: Your husband is okay with that? He knows?

Mich: Which husband?

Rick: I know about it now. I'm talking about the real husband. He knows this?

Mich: Sometimes I am a one woman marching band with an audience or without one. Do you have a problem with that?

Rick: I have a problem but not with that. I don't know if I could be a watcher. Not for long.

Mich: I would expect your full participation. ;)

I could see clearly what my imagination put forth regarding Michonne getting off on the Multicolored Penis I had stolen from the sex shop. It was killing me that I wasn't there. I couldn't be there. I shouldn't be there, but I wanted to be there. She shouldn't even want me there, but she did, and it made us want it even more. To insert my real life flushed colored one up inside of that chocolate Kat dressed in that wildly sexy getup... I was hyper-focused hearing the sound of the next text.

Mich: It turns a solid color when wet. I am going to have fun with this.

Rick: I don't know how long I would use it or have it part of the act. Never done it.

Mich: You will use it until you hear the sound of trumpets

Rick: Trumpets?

Mich: My marching band does not consist of flutes.

Rick: Trombone?

Mich: Do you prefer clarinet?

Rick: Clarinet. Yes.

Mich: Thought you would like the reed wet

Rick: Only way to play from what I know about a clarinet. A wet reed.

Mich: Lick or suck? I can do both until it softens.

"Rick? Are you okay? Is everything okay?"

I turned my phone face down on the counter between our double bowl sink. I didn't realize I was breathing heavy. I didn't know I was breathing heavy and texting away. I didn't even know I was breathing heavy, texting with an out of control hard on that I was practically rubbing against the edge of my sink counter. It was 1 fucking A.M., and I couldn't sleep. I had just spent thirty minutes just sitting in the driver seat parked inside of our garage before spending 20 minutes wondering whether to jerk off or take a cold shower. It was hard to resist calling Michonne. It always is. I needed to be a part of her, in her, immersed.

I didn't know how to tell my wife to drop to her knees because I needed some relief. I didn't know how to ask her to bend over and let me nut all over her back. I knew it was definitely a language I could speak and have it received readily by the one I lusted for...Michonne would love it.

Lori would wonder what had gotten into me. We have been married a long time and have become accustomed to things done a certain way. _I love you_. _I love this. This is nice. Feels nice._ This is the language Lori and I spoke while having sex. We had never deviated. I wasn't comfortable with trying or rationalizing why I wanted a little something different when for Lori we have always done it the way we would do it.

I would have to explain where the change came from, and why we needed any changing when it came to our language in the bedroom or in general. _Why_? The idea of trying to answer what would have been a reasonable counter to my request was daunting. Why?

Boy, did I want the fuck you, pussy, and every reference to my dick? I wanted to try out those sex toys and apply them to the act of pleasing a sex partner that liked to refer to it as fucking, her pussy, with my dick. I could just imagine Michonne reading aloud the directions on how to use every sex toy imaginable.

This wasn't fair to Lori. She was waiting for a response, and the easy way out was always to keep it hidden until the right moment or time.

"I don't know, Lori."

I knew she was checking out my protruding member between my legs. There was no way to deny it while wearing sweatpants. I leaned down to take as much water that I could cup in my hands to splash upon my face.

How do you tell the very person you promised to spend the rest of your life with, you have fallen for someone else, while in a constant state of falling? I was free falling, and I didn't know how to tell my wife. A large part of me didn't want to get caught, nor did I want to be rescued.

What I was going to try to do was take a slice of cake from a different bakery sooner than later. The way things were happening it would have been earlier that very night. I felt like a thief caught red handed. I didn't take anything that wasn't mine, but I was about to break something that was already cracked. The discovery would reveal that it was our vows. I needed to get a handle on things.

Standing in the mirror, I couldn't see myself. It was like I wasn't there. There was this sense that I was long gone, and there wasn't going to be any type of recovery for my marriage. The reality hit me hard. Right in the gut is where I felt it. I didn't know who I was or what kind of man I had become, to create or allow this type of divide. It pained me to know how strongly I felt about Michonne. I would have never believed in a million years that I would be capable of doing this to Lori. I sensed my detachment.

"Come here, baby. What's wrong, Rick? Talk to me."

I couldn't go to Lori. My feet wouldn't take me in that direction, not even with her gentle command.

"Can you hold me?" I struggled to speak the request. I failed at hiding the fact I was falling apart.

Tears I hid in the water I had already splashed upon my face. Lori came up from behind and held me tight. My body hinted, if Lori were receptive, she would have felt my pain.

I was pained by my betrayal that was still plotted, and it lied flagrantly on the horizon.

My wife's face rested on my back as I cried. She cried too. I was scaring her. I was scared too.

 _Lost in the Darkness trying to make peace with the blindness_ were the lyrics that came to mind if Lori would have asked me what song was playing in my head. She didn't. It was an indication that I had developed another form of foreign communication that Lori would not understand.

Lori's movements never bothered me, especially now that we had the new mattress. It was the warm body that in my dreaming state belonged to Michonne that I craved to stay connected to, achingly. Surreal. We were in bed together. I felt extremely happy, turned on and enamored. I held Michonne from getting up. She was dressed in that same sexy outfit where I could see every detail of her naked body.

"Hey!"

"Come back here." My voice was heavy with lust.

"No." Michonne was pulling away from me.

"Please." I begged.

"Have you officially become a chocolate addict?" She asked playfully.

"Hell, yeah. I would really like another taste of those Hershey kiss lips of yours."

"Which lips?"

Michonne began rubbing her thigh against my hard-on, enjoying the friction it caused, I grabbed her leg to hold it firmly in place allowing my hips the freedom to move with pure abandon. I could feel her harden nipples on my skin. Her smooth dark skin against me. I just wanted to fuck her, love her and fuck her some more. Her tongue was doing incredible things with the back of my ear.

"Both. Yes. Get on top."

"I'm always on top." She moaned.

"I want to see you." I insisted.

"See me or watch me?"

"Just fuck me, Michonne. Shit! Just fuck me." I was desperate, horny and crazy about her.

"Rick?"

I was dazed in hearing my name repeatedly called more out of concern than the sexy voice that breathed heavily in my ear. The face I was staring into became more Lori's as Michonne faded from view.

Michonne's thigh wasn't on my swollen dick. It was my palm. I was masturbating.

Lori was confused and concerned.

I didn't want to talk about it, and it would have been a discussion as I was coming to my senses. Before Lori could say another word, I grabbed the back of her head and brought her face down to mine. I wanted to kiss any thoughts she wanted to share regarding me jerking off in bed. I didn't want her to ask me about it. My wife was hesitant in kissing me back. Eventually, she warmed up to it the more I desperately sought her participation.

My mind was in flames. I roughly turned Lori on her stomach, spreading her legs, I lifted her hips and began to thrust until I saw Michonne again. I imagined the one woman marching band, and in my mind Michonne was enjoying every second of it. I had cum but couldn't stop. Lori told me she had enough after 20 minutes. I had to hurry. I had to nut one more time. The ache was incredibly painful. Sweat from my body began dripping on her back...She was there. Right there. She was just right there. The most beautiful black woman connected to my penis. I thought that If I continued to do it harder, faster, the dark skin would return, the sexy ass would come back. Michonne was gone, and it was just me inside of Lori.

"MISSHHHH." I sputtered, collapsing on top of my wife's back.

I lacked all control. It took a lot out of me to prevent myself from allowing Michonne's name from falling from my lips. I rolled away to my side of the bed, panting for air, drenched in sweat. In no time, I fell back to sleep.

A few hours later, I awoke to find Lori out of bed. Nothing about that was unusual. I threw the sheet off my body. I had to take a piss. My sudden appearance in the bathroom surprised Lori who was going through my phone.

"What are you doing Lori?"

"I don't understand this thing."

"What are you doing Lori?"

"This thing that you have with Mich. This fascination you have with her."

"What are you doing Lori?"

"What am I doing?"

"Why are you going through my phone?"

I found myself becoming extremely angry that she would go through my phone. My phone? I had never touched her phone. I have never invaded her privacy. Ever. Unspoken boundaries were crossed.

"What is going on with you, Rick?"

"Give me my phone, Lori."

I was done playing games of reaching for my phone from my wife. I had grabbed her arm and snatched it out of her grip. I had her attention. I wasn't fucking playing about wanting my phone. Lori was shocked by my aggression. I knew then how things could escalate in domestic situations if the other party didn't comply. I am glad that it didn't.

"I'm not getting any answers from you, Rick. You've changed." Lori accused.

"I'm still the same man, Lori." I asserted.

It was a lie. I had no idea who the hell I was right then compared to the man Lori needed and deserved. I could not curse the existence of Michonne even then.

"It's been Mich this. Mich that. Mich. Ever since she has become your partner your taste in things have changed. The random dieting. Since when have you ever cared about your weight? Now, you crave plantains? When did you ever eat the first one? Even your taste in music. I am really trying to figure this out, Rick."

"There is nothing to figure out. Are we done?"

"Last night, you were crying. Tell me why?"

I was silent. Lori's answer was right there on my phone. To this day I have no idea what Lori may have saw or read. Practically every after work interaction was right on my phone, keyed and logged.

"Rick, you are my husband. Why are you texting her? Why are you calling her at hours that you should be in bed with me? Asleep. What is your fascination with Mich that you called out her name while we were making love!?"

I was stunned for just a second. I didn't realize the communication was something that was very indecipherable. I knew the majority of the text between Michonne and me were practically in a language of our own. If I had called out her name like Lori had just accused, then anyone with an IQ above 80 wouldn't need to ask me for the answer. The answer was stored on my phone in every line of texting or voicemail. I wondered how much did Lori actually read, saw, or listened to? I shifted my weight, eyeing the woman who paled in comparison, glaring in every way by her very blandness. Vanilla.

What I didn't do is deny it. What I technically did was admit guilt without full disclosure. I turned my phone off after calling Sheriff Herschel, requesting from him an emergency day off. I ordered Roses. Dropped Carl off at a friend's house. Lori and I went to a restaurant and a Movie. We also had more silent lovemaking. All of this proved nothing other than I could still have sex with my wife with another woman resting heavy on my mind. In a way, it could be seen as me buying time before I officially blew up my life.

Those twenty-four hours without Mich were torture. Cold Turkey.

I still would have preferred to have been at work.

I thought about all the flowers that Mich liked, I searched for all things that Michonne would want to try on the menu, even suggested a few to Lori who refused to consider trying something new, or different. The movie my wife selected was one that I had already snuck off the job and watched with Michonne a week ago. I took note of why I enjoyed Michonne infinitely more. And I still wanted to have crazy sex with Michonne. I wanted to turn my phone on. I did not.

"I had paired up with Abe yesterday," Michonne informed me with whom she spent her workday with while I was faking with Lori.

"I know."

Abe couldn't wait to tell me that he was moving in with my work wife in the locker-room when I got in that morning. Said he was going to suggest an official partner reassignment. Didn't take long for things to escalate from there and after a few in your face Fuck Yous, Shane stepped between us, did I realize I was just fooling myself to think I was going to keep my bullshit under wraps for much longer.

"He's pretty good. Smart. His size makes him intimidating. His reports are solid."

I really didn't want to hear anything more about her day with Abe. I remained silent.

"You have nothing to say?"

"Nope."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Yeah."

Thirty minutes went by without another word. We were in sync.

"Texted you. Called you. Why didn't you respond?"

"My phone was off. I didn't turn it back on until this morning. I saw the texts. I didn't have time to read them nor listen to your voicemail."

"Would have been nice to know that you weren't going to be at work Yesterday."

"I report to the Sheriff. I don't report necessarily to you, Mich."

"Roger fucking that."

I heard what she said, but I didn't acknowledge it. An hour had gone by. The tension between us was high, and it was something that we couldn't necessarily squash since the morning was busier than usual. Haphazardly we were creating ways to stay in a strict functional work relationship. I couldn't necessarily read Michonne when we had our boundaries stretching to the moon with our walls up and equal in height. I had to lower my guard just to peer over and extend an olive branch. I needed to know what she was thinking. I wanted her to know what was on my mind. I wanted to know her thoughts. I gave my words careful consideration before I spoke them, straight forward.

"Lori went through my phone."

"We are looking for an address on the road with no signs? How can mail find it's intended when there is fuckery such as this?"

She had me on ignore unless it was a work-related conversation.

"I wanted to call you, Mich, but things got out of hand, and I had to try and make it right again with Lori."

"This is a possible hoarder. Look at all the Cats and goats. Nope. I can't go inside. I will stay in the car while you go and make sure this person is alive. I mean if this was a shoot'em up kill him, I have your back, Grimes. A safety check is out of my jurisdiction of duty."

Michonne misread the look I gave her. She thought I was concerned about her not living up to the Corners We Turn, we turn together. I had to re-evaluate my whole thought process when it came to this partner of mine putting on another layer of lip gloss while she waited for me to get out of the car to go check up on an elderly citizen. It had taken her a few seconds to realize that I, _we_ , needed to have this conversation.

"Okay. I will remain on the porch while you go inside?" This was Michonne's compromise. This indicated to me that her guard was down.

"I'm sorry, Mich. I should have just come back, but I was nervous. I just didn't expect that to happen the way that it happened. You were dressed in that outfit thing, and I just lost my mind. What I was doing was trying to make sure about this thing. Our problem. I'm adamant that we have a problem. I thought my solution was to try harder with Lori. I spent all night and into the next day trying to get it back. To have my head on straight and lead my life in the way it is expected. I had a hard time trying to be that man that promised to honor my vows. Vows I had made before ever meeting you. I'm still not sure what kind of man I am to promise one thing and not honor it."

"I thought you would come back. I waited for you. Wondered if you were. I mean we were texting back and forth and then it just stopped. I was worried so I called you."

"I'm trying to do the right thing."

"You are doing the right thing by making things right with your wife. We don't want her thinking anything when there is nothing."

"It's something. It's something to me, Michonne. I see it. Crystal clear to me. I close my eyes and I still see you. Open my eyes, and you are all I want to see. I want to see you happy. I want to make you happy, Mich. Do you understand how fucked up that is?"

"Why are you worried about my happiness, Grimes?"

"Because I know you wore that for your husband the other night. He didn't come home to you. He should have been home with you, Mich. Every night he should be in your bed."

"I don't mind that he takes care of his family. His parents are older, and he wants to be there as much as possible for them."

"Still isn't an excuse, Mich"

"Mike works too. His hours align better with school and taking care of Andre. I'm okay."

"If I were your husband, I would be in bed with you every night. I don't know what's going on with his parents, but I have parents too. They would expect me to be in bed with my wife. So excuse me if I don't get it. I wouldn't take you for granted. Especially after so many years together and you still doing extra. I don't know if most men get what you offer after the first couple of years together with their wives. I would be home without a doubt in my mind knowing, especially knowing you were prepared for a little extra."

I made Michonne smile with that. She speaks in this way that I would have known she was dressed in that getup, and that I needed to bring myself home. I would have driven through every red light.

"What was that outfit called that you had on?"

"My Hello Kitty." She giggled.

"Hello Kitty?"

"I like when my Kat can breathe."

God, how I wanted this woman's Kat.

* * *

"What is that, Michonne?"

"My first pet."

"You never had a pet before?"

"Never allowed as a kid. I was raised to believe that they are the dirty filthy beast that had germs."

"They can be a dirty filthy beast if a person doesn't care enough to maintain the animal and home."

"You've had a pet before?"

"Personal pet? No. Parents did. My Mom loved English Springer Spaniels and Irish Wolfhounds."

"I have no idea what those are. Sounds like they are bigger than this?"

"Very much so."

The way that she was looking at the creature on the screen with heart eyes, I couldn't help the smile that grew on my lips just watching her.

"I want them chocolate."

"Chocolate?"

"Okay, brown in color. I will name them Chocolate and Coco."

"Because you are Cuckoo for coco puffs?"

"Why must I have the mental issue?"

"Those are mutants. Defects of some sort. You are going to need balance. I can give that to you. Not much else. It's an offer."

"This is an example of what our baby would look like. If we were ever to crossbreed."

She had propped the screen up more for me to take another glance. She had switched the photos from the Hairless Chinese Crested and a Bald, toothless smiling Sphynx, to a random picture of a baby. An obviously mixed race baby that was cute but not as adorable as our baby would be. I put my focus back on to the road. We were headed back to the station. We were back on track. I had the beer and she promised to make mild chicken wings for our Walking Dead introduction at her home.

"If I am following you, our children wouldn't look anything like that."

"Are you sure? I am a Black Goddess, married to a king. You are a Knight driving a cruiser taking us back to the kingdom so you can go home to your Princess. My King and your Princess will stir a curse and dress it up and name it our Karma."

"No children?" My curiosity was piqued.

She paused at my question. I could tell she was eyeing the radio to make sure we could hear but not overheard.

"I like kids, Rick."

"I do too, but how many are we talking?"

"A lot."

"How many is that?"

"What would you consider a lot?"

"I have a son. You have a son. I've always wanted a daughter." I told her without having to think long or hard about it. I wanted one more. I knew that for sure. I just didn't want a situation where our children were placed higher than meeting my simple needs. Doesn't mean I wouldn't give my life for Carl or any other child that we shared together including Andre, just while we are living I would like to come first in a couple of things.

"Well, I have a son. You have a son. I've always wanted a daughter or two...maybe three." The last part was almost a whisper from Michonne.

I didn't say anything. I allowed it to marinate. I felt a true conviction that I would more than likely agree to having two kids with Michonne. More than two was out of the question. Unless we were talking about an accidental pregnancy after the two and it was before my vasectomy which would include her getting her tubes tied. The idea of Mich barefoot and pregnant had me horny as hell. I couldn't look at her much for the rest of the day. She thought I was sick or something because I looked flushed to her. Blue balls were going to be the death of me.

Later that day we were on her couch kissing. The first kiss was a bit awkward. I had never kissed lips so plump. My mind was lost in the intimate act and trying to find examples in my head to compare her lips against anyone else that I have ever kissed. She was definitely my first. We repositioned ourselves, trying again to do it right and it was like BOOM. Her tongue in my mouth. The sweet taste that was distinctively hers, mixed with the beer we drank and the chicken we consumed was more than I ever bargained for in my life. We kept deepening the kiss from that point.

Heart pounding, adrenaline rush the more we explored this intimate act of being lipped locked and ravenous, we were both a little too eager. I needed a second to catch my breath the moment she let out a moan. I wanted what ever she wanted right then and more. I had only touched her face and the back of her neck to bring her mouth to mine again, being completely engrossed in kissing I wondered if I needed her permission to touch her in other places. We were so in the moment. I would have been the happiest man around if she just told me if she wanted me to lie back or if she was going to climb on my lap. I needed to dry hump her. We just couldn't ignore the sound of her house phone.

If that phone hadn't rung when it had, I would have undoubtedly impregnated Michonne. I didn't have a condom. And nothing, and I mean nothing, would have stopped me from at least putting the tip in or swearing by the pull out method. Luckily I left when I did.

I couldn't believe I was back home making love to my wife after having a make-out session with Michonne on her couch. I was miserably aware that it would be my last time as I pulled Lori's panties to the side and fantasized about fucking Michonne. Every sign was there that I had checked out on my marriage especially after sex with my wife. Here I was texting the woman I preferred to have next to me while Lori slept.

* * *

"How long have you known about them, Shane?"

 _Them_? I knew who and what Lori was referring to and with Shane there Lori thought she would get some insight since I had learned to go mute or walk away until she calmed down. I didn't want to discuss details.

Shane was helping me move all of my things from the house I use to share with Lori and my son Carl. It was almost unreal to finally get the rest of my things. I was ready to move and just wished to hell Lori would too. We were officially separated and my eyesight was locked on Divorce. .

"Ask your-self. Ask yourself why were you willfully unaware, Lori?" Shane halted with a box in his hands.

He gave Lori his full attention. "Ultimatums should have been made early on. I fought to keep this jackass to remain my partner for a reason. The moment they locked eyes when she arrived I knew it spelled T.R.O.U.B.L.E! The energy was too strong and a few of us noticed it from the beginning. I needed his ass to agree but-no he was going to stick it out, Googly-eyed an all. That look he had spelled trouble. And trouble has a way of creeping up and rocking even the most solid foundations. Your husband was sure to bang her like a hurricane would bang screen doors. He lasted a long time before it happened. I have to give him that much. Took him almost two years to build up the courage to plow that field where now he doesn't want to come back to you. Trouble just creeps up on a person somehow and after awhile you just have to accept it and move on."

I was struggling to not say anything. I tried to keep busy by overanalyzing items that I wasn't sure I needed or wanted. It was hard to gauge usefulness when you are all ears on a topic that could make a certain person get out of control.

This was the one time that I wished I had drove my own damn car. I would have left and allowed Lori to worry about throwing shit away. This Asshole friend of mine was going to give Lori the right amount of Northerly winds for her wings. I tried to hurry. The stuff with Lori was annoying. I deserved it, but I didn't want to have to endure the high octave range that she would take it. It was like I am right there, but she spoke as if I was a mile away and she needed every single person to know that I wasn't worth a damn.

"What do you mean?" Lori was curious to what Shane could possibly have been implying.

"We were all at the Karaoke bar. You were there. What in the hell were you thinking then?"

 _FUCK Me why don't you, Shane!_

It was a couple of weeks after Valentines was what Shane was referencing to Lori.

Michonne and I had a growing problem. It was something that was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. This was our ever increasing developing problem that was more mine one day or hers an hour later. This problem we had, led us from Valentines, to the Karaoke lounge, to the Hello Kitty, which led the way to the kiss on the couch, the kiss in the Walmart Parking Lot, Sex at The Honky Tonk Bar and Inn, Sex in the Theatre and Church parking lot before the free room at the Holiday Inn.

We were absolutely oblivious to sharing a kiss in front of everyone while she sat in the opened door ambulance to collect her bearings over the blood that wasn't her own. I'd just killed a man and she was soiled by my decision. Witnesses were everywhere. We didn't care. Then Mike steps up. I am not sure if he saw us or not. I hesitated releasing Michonne just because he told me to. He wanted me to let go of his wife. Luckily Shane walked up, tapping me on the shoulder to take a walk with him. Mike wanted his wife. _I_ wanted his wife.

Karaoke...

Initially, I had come in with Mich. We had a table together, and we were joined by a few of our co-workers, tossing back beers, joking around, in between listening to any brave soul willing to go up on stage and perform. Michonne would always comment that she found it strange to have a piano at a Karaoke Bar. A nice piano.

I had only nodded, taking note of everything that was happening around us, but not really wanting to acknowledge what was inside of me that was growing out of control.

We knew what was up when Shane had arrived with Andrea, Abe, along with an unamused Sheriff coming up from behind. One thing Herschel didn't like to do was spend his free time with us from the department. He would rather be home with his wife Ms. Maybelline relaxing, not wondering if we would botch something else up and have another investigation led by outsiders.

Michonne and I had to clean up after the last Sheriff's Ball. We were nominated to do it again for the next one. We were late for a meeting due to our food mix up at our healthy eating spot. We were going to be damned again this year. Shane and Andrea said they would take our place to clean if we were to perform three songs. We were like, "Hell, Yeah."

There were cheers. Most everyone that knows me knew that I can play the piano. Not at the classical level but well enough. I was surprised as hell to know that Michonne could play by ear. She had never shared this with me until right then on stage where we were both sitting in a Karaoke Bar with most of our department witnessing what seemed our sudden impromptu performance. Three songs, selected by my asshole friend Shane. OH, Wonder. I wonder why? I have only heard one song by the group called OH Wonder. Michonne was another matter. She was like a deer in headlights. I think she was expecting Beyoncé material or Kendric Lamar.

"What kind of music is this?" Michonne whispered to me as we took the stage.

"Nothing that you would have heard of in a million years."

"Have you?"

"One song. It's Lori's favorite. She has it practically on repeat when we are in the car together."

"How am I to know when to sing?"

"We are to _sing_ every line together. Every line. I will play the piano, and you just follow along with me until you are comfortable and then I will fall back for you to lead me." The look of confusion was all over Michonne's face. I simplified it for her. "Vibe with me."

She wore the look of skepticism well.

"This is done together?"

I nodded. I wasn't about to go into a 15 minute discussion about what type of singing versus Sang with Michonne. I did emphasize the Sing. If she did a Jennifer Hudson, I would just stop playing the Piano. We would have to clean this year. We would, and I didn't care how pissed off Michonne got with me. It didn't matter because we would be together for hours trying to get Herschel's Barn slash, banquet hall back to its original state. I was just not going to listen to her impersonation of I Am Telling you. I called it I am screaming at you.

When Michonne wasn't theatrical, she was a mediocre singer. I'm average too. Together we were decent. We had never really sung a song. We spoke the lines. This was going to be different. We were going to sing. We both had enough alcohol to feel emboldened.

Michonne sat next to me at the piano. I began the chords once the song was Queued up to play along on the piano. The lyrics were before us.

The first song, **All We Do** :

All we do is hide away  
All we do is, all we do is hide away  
All we do is chase the day...

I had led Michonne through the first part and most of the next before she began to take off understanding the delivery along with the melody.

 _I've been upside down_  
 _I don't wanna be the right way round_  
 _Can't find paradise on the ground..._

I found myself completely wrapped in the moment. This was something that I had never done with my own wife who could actually sing very well. This type of song was made for Lori's way of singing. I preferred what Michonne was doing with the words that struck me to have more meaning.

 _All we do is play it safe_  
 _All we do is live in a cage..._

I could tell Mich was getting emotional. We finished the very last lines with her hand in mine.

 _All I did was fail today_  
 _All I wanna be is whites in waves_  
 _All I did was fail today..._

I didn't think. Mich was embarrassed that she was emotional. I thought she did awesomely. I planted a kiss on her cheek and whispered encouragement to her. She nodded and allowed me to use my sleeves to wipe her eyes. We were both surprised by the Whistles and Cheers that filled the room.

The next song began, and we braced ourselves for the randomness thrown our way. I realized this song was Lori's favorite, and because I had heard it before it helped me to guide Michonne until she was comfortable. **Shark** :

 _Standing on the world outside_  
 _Caught up in a love landslide_  
 _Stuck still, color blind_  
 _Hoping for a black and white..._

I gave Michonne a wink. She was doing outstanding. Impressive.

 _Are you gonna be my love?_  
 _Are you gonna be mine?_  
 _Are you gonna, are you gonna be my love?_

We were seriously into the song. We couldn't help smiling at each other while performing it. The more that Michonne became comfortable, the more her eyes would lock with mine to the point one of us had to look away to make sure the chorus didn't deviate. I noticed she was doing something with the piano keys...

Applause and whistles. The next song Queued. **The Rain**

 _Ever since the rain I've been waking on my own_  
 _Left an empty space in a home, we built to grow_  
 _Watching waves at night, I fell into the blue_  
 _I guess I lost the light, now I've given all my love to you_

Michonne had officially taken over the piano. I marveled at the fact that I had never known. Mich had never told me that she was a trained pianist. Scholarship. She had a story behind it all and the decision that led her to Harvard Law. I just couldn't take my eyes off of her. Everything about her, about me, poured out through the words of that song. It was undeniable...

 _Ever since the rain I've been living days too slow_  
 _Lie around and wait for a heart I used to know_  
 _They say that over time there'll be nothing left to lose_  
 _But I still can't find the light, I've given all my love to you_

Our vulnerability was center stage and witnessed by every single person in attendance including Sheriff Herschel who kept his arms folded across his chest. We didn't notice the Sheriff handing 50 dollars to Shane and Abe. There was a bet. Herschel had lost. The bet, I found out much later, was that if Herschel came to the Karaoke Bar, and he took the time to actually watch instead of dismissing he would understand the term, Rick's Mich. He paid up immediately. Shane said it sealed it with our next line...

 _In the night when I'm dreaming_  
 _Oh I know your body's next to mine_

I was drowning in the vibe we had created, and it was incredible. "You showing out," Michonne whispered quickly not missing the next few lines. We held eye contact as we continued.

 _In the dark, I can feel it_  
 _Don't you tell me I'm dreaming_  
 _Won't you stay with me?_  
 _I've given all my, given all my love to you..._

We had a standing ovation. It took a few seconds too long for us to notice because Michonne hid her face against my forearm. I spoke softly to her. Leaning in closer than I have ever dared. The kiss on the cheek was one thing out of the blue but I desired to maintain this level we were on. I wanted to remain in our bubble.

"You did, great."

"I need another beer." She whined.

"My buzz is gone too." I confirmed that what we were feeling wasn't caused by the alcohol.

We had quite a few request to do another song, but Michonne was already off the stage, and I was close behind. It was only then I had noticed Lori. She was standing there. I read the look of concern on her face which she quickly hid with a warm smile and a slow clap.

I didn't follow Michonne who I could feel had paused. If she did, it meant she had glanced back to watch me go in the direction of my wife. I was like a confused puppy knowing who I belonged to, but really wanting to follow someone that was much more fun. Old bone? Or New tasty meaty bone?

My wife was in the company of Jessie her good friend and recent divorcee. Like a dutiful husband who is not a dog, I made the left to go and greet the woman I promised to love and cherish. I realized then that someone had given her the inside scoop to my location and it came from Shane.

I didn't forget that it was my turn to supply the next round of beers. I made sure to take one to Michonne who was surprised that I did it with Lori present. It was just a beer. I sat the beer down on the table in front of her. I saw the look on most everyone's face when I did it. My seat next to Michonne was still vacant, and it remained that way while I sat across the room with my real wife, giving her and Jessie a bottle. I sat with them.

It didn't take long for Jessie to start her flirting the whole time I took up residence in the booth that gave me direct visual of Michonne and the stage. Lori was secure. It didn't bother her. My wife was amused by the attention that I would get from the PTA moms or women in general. I had never given Lori any reason to worry about me, or us, our family. Ever.

Anyway, I had downed a few drinks, keeping an eye on Mich who began to move through the lounge, mingling. The majority of our Department was in attendance. She made herself comfy at the bar sitting between Ezekiel and Morgan who were on the homicide team. Shane and Andrea came to our table and blocked my view. I had to focus on conversations that I wasn't particularly interested in and tried to smile or nod on cue.

* * *

Shane continued after he tossed the box in the back of his pick up truck. He was going to give Lori more to think about and stew over.

"There was a reason some of us were at the Karaoke. We had bets going on all over the place. Some people after that night assumed you and Ricky Boy had some type of open marriage or arrangement because the shit was flagrant. I mean, We had voted on the sappiest lovesick shit we could find, made up some shit about they were selected again to clean up this year. Everyone that was curious was under the roof. I mean hell, we got Herschel there and he left a believer that your husband was head over heels in love with the woman at the piano, his fucking patrol partner. The two stay giddy like two twelve year olds that can't figure shit out. Everyone at the station knew when those two had a disagreement and the moment it was back to normal which would take a good 10 minutes. To hear those two talk was another thing...I think you need to ask yourself Lori why did you ignore the signs?"

"The signs?"

"Yes. The signs. Sex is different. Distracted. Work is more important. Different Music, interest. He goes out of his way and buys this beautiful arrangement of flowers for her at work and only gives you a single rose kind of shit..."

I had tried to hide the fact that I had gone white as a ghost because Lori was suddenly looking over at me. Like seriously, what in the fuck, Shane?

"...I am not telling you this because I think my friend here is a bad guy. He ain't. Any guy that falls in love didn't do that on purpose. Love just happens. Now sex...that takes planning and maneuvering. Love...You just can't blame a man who loves someone else. He can't help that. What Rick has done is saved you from a prolong heartache by not stringing you along for another year or two. Try and be grateful."

Things were clicking together like a puzzle for Lori and then there were some nuggets that she would never get the full truth because I was literally going to have a stroke if Shane was going to say another damn thing that he knew first hand. Lori was focused on that one Rose on Valentines. OH MY GOD. She had found a receipt that I had purchased a special arrangement. She wanted to know what happened to that special bouquet. OH MY GOD!

"Well, you asked me if I knew. I did. I am in a relationship now with a married woman that is waiting for me to ask her to marry me and that shit is NOT about to happen but she doesn't know that. I like what we have going and I am not the one to leave a husband for. I am not pulling pins out of Grenades. Now if she wants to blow up her life for something not promised, I can't stop that but I be damned if it is because of a promise I am not prepared to make."

Lori...Lori flew off the handle again. She went inside to get a baseball bat that belong to Carl. Thank God Carl wasn't there.

My soon to be ex-wife took out both of Shane's tail lights before he could take off down the road.

I hurried and got inside of the truck.

Shane was debating whether or not he could get a way with shooting Lori since I got away with killing a federal agent...

* * *

 **Official Foxhole...**

I slammed the passenger door once I got out to meet him at the back of the truck. I had to ask the burning question that plagued my mind regarding what just happened and why Shane would want to upset Lori with details.

"I had to do it. You will thank me later." Shane shrugged.

He had already began unloading the boxes from the bed of his pickup truck, waiting for me to unlock the door to my storage unit. We were located five miles from my former home.

I had to get Lori to the point of cutting all ties, where there's no chance for forgiveness."

"Doesn't answer my question, why would you do that?"

"I need you ALL in. No fucking distractions from your former life."

I remained flummoxed. A word I had learned from Michonne from our random conversations about word origins.

I was flummoxed.

"Don't give me that confused look." Shane shook his head as he set the box down inside the space that was larger than needed to store things that could have been tossed or given away.

"What you did was unnecessary and it wasn't your place. I would like to one day have an amicable relationship with my ex. What you did was made it impossible for that to ever happen. I have a kid with Lori. His name is Carl just in case you don't fucking remember."

"You've created the liability by marrying and reproducing. Made things more difficult by not following the life of a bachelor."

"I wanted to settle down, grow some roots. This place was good as any to do it."

"What are you doing now? Uprooting?"

"Fuck you, Shane."

"What is it called that you leave this life for an RV? I didn't know anything about this shit until Andrea told me. Why must I learn things from her when you and I are suppose to be in this shit together?"

"There's a world out there I want to see and be part of. I can't, won't go another day wishing for it. I've done some things I'm not proud of."

"Well if you hadn't done some things you wouldn't have been able to buy that expensive ass RV. It would not have been possible. You have enough money stashed away for Carl's education and still a nice amount to go out there and chase a dream."

Shane had a point...

Shane and I continued to take turns unloading as we talked.

"I wouldn't call it chasing a dream." I said more under my voice but Shane heard me loud and clear.

"Have you two decided about Carl?"

"He's still upset."

"How does that make you feel?"

"Like Shit."

"And you're still going away?"

"For awhile. I hope to have him come out at some point."

"What in the hell?"

"What is your problem, Shane? You seem to have a bug up your ass and you've been waiting for me to get it out for you. Either tell me or find a fucking solution that doesn't consist of this back and forth."

"Sounds like you've pulled Cupid Arrows out of your Goddamn ears and you are ready to listen. Well, I Got the call. I then confronted Andrea about it. Can't get a straight answer from her. She continues to Insult my intelligence. She thinks I have a problem with my memory as if I can't remember what she told me versus what I discovered about her and your Mich."

Shane had my full attention then. My Mich...

"Those two broads don't work for the FBI, nothing affiliated with any agency. Still, have feelers out trying to verify who the fuck they are. Right now all we got is that whoever it is has the muscle, money, and influence. I was thinking CIA possibly. Noah says, CDC. Do you know where the fuck he came from? He looks every bit of 14 years old. It's like we got a lot of outsiders around and I have no idea who to trust.

No one knew where the kid came from or how he was positioned in authority in the department handling the crime lab, computer technology, and Logistics. He just randomly appeared with credentials that no one questioned. Under duress he presents his badge for the Center for Disease Control?

"I'm not trusting it until it matches Eugene."

"What does Noah have to support this?"

"He's following unsubstantiated chatter if you ask me. Shit about the meth is the Walking Dead. Something about a high-level CDC individual has gone missing only seen on the dark web proclaiming he will bring the world to its knees by raising the dead. There was a video on YouTube before it was pulled along with a couple of searchable feeds showing the use of rats. Purportedly it shows the missing CDC individual administering a drug to a corpse, and it comes back to life as a fighting machine to infect others. It shows him delivering a drug to a supposed lifeless body that is under his command.

It was all too much for me to process. Too much for me to believe or understand or care now that I had turned my life upside down, inside and out.

Everything reared it's ugly head once we gained entry to the Compound in Alaska named 'Alexandria'. We had finally arrived, quarantined and offered inoculations. There were only three needles and six of us. Michonne stepped aside because she had already been given her shot a year and a half ago. It happened after I shot the man at the Holiday Inn. He was an infected individual and Michonne had his blood all in her hair and on uncovered parts of her skin.

Noah had already emptied the vial into my thigh when the issue arose. The four remaining were Lori, Carl, and Mike, and Andre. Lori felt that it should be her and Carl...Mike felt it should be Andre and Carl.

* * *

 **LUCKILY This Story HAS NO Foxhole...**

* * *

A/N:

This was something I had written months ago. I am having a hard time staying within my chapter limitations. I have officially thrown in the towel. Yes. I am done trying to do this in the format of meeting what I have self imposed. Too Many Words. This will be the only Unicorn you will ever witness. Those who are familiar with how I present a story will understand this rant.

The next and final Chapter will be from Michonne finally going to Montana, Canada, to Alaska. I want to apologize to those who have waited and I have told that I was pushing this out weeks ago. Sigh.

P.S. or FYI

It does not bother me if anyone ask if I am updating. It helps me to focus because in real life I am all over the place. I can understand why it would bother other writers in the fandom. Those who want to Nudge me have my permission. Thanks for reading and reviewing or at least attempting.


	13. Our Weaknesses

_(Chapter 12 updated at the Foxhole that isn't a foxhole)_

* * *

 _"Birthing is never easy or without pain, be it a universe, a child, or a fresh start in life. Contraction precedes expansion. Darkness comes before dawn. Joy follows pain. This is the way of things."_  
 ** _― John Mark Green_**

* * *

Flowers for Valentine's day, and now we were going to a King's County Karaoke Bar and Lounge.

I had asked him what his thoughts were about the picture I had sent to his phone.

"I don't know, Mich. I mean, I looked down and there you were, all smiles showing off the flowers I had given you. What did you expect me to say when I couldn't think?"

"I thought you would say how lucky my husband was to have a woman who deserves flowers."

He didn't say anything else regarding the topic of my Valentine flowers. I will admit I was expecting a response. The silence was what he gave me. There was something on his mind. I didn't pressure him to tell me. I waited instead. I expected and waited. Nothing.

Anyway, we were sitting in our cruiser in front of our least favorite Greasiest Grimiest place to eat.

I had just slid into the driver seat with our smoothies. He took his, and inspected it for what-I had no clue. I placed mine in the cup holder and gave him his change to put in our Healthier eating jar in the glove box now that his wife had put him on an allowance and bagged lunches that weren't suitable for a growing child much less for a man with awakened taste buds. We both were secretly craving the day we could go back to our Healthier eating.

We were saving all of our nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollars for our Healthier eating Bonanza at the end of the week.

I had my sights on a Coney Dog with extra Chilli and Cheese.

I found his eyes lingering on my unopened box of very expensive chocolates from France that I'd placed back on my lap. We had recently begun experimenting with chocolates from around the world.

I began to open the box while he contemplated tasting his smoothie. I ignored him. I knew he was waiting for me to tell him what was with the switch up in flavors, colors, and possible taste. I wanted to talk about the flowers he gave me or our Karaoke song.

"I think we should have a choice of songs. I think we should go fucking rogue on them." I made my suggestion most nonchalantly.

He opened the lid and sniffed and took a quick sip.

"Vanilla?"

"It's your favorite," I responded with a quizzical look on my face.

I was surprised that he didn't want to discuss a concerted effort to make changes for tomorrow night's performance. I turned up the song by Rick James and Teena Marie, Fire and Ice.

"You will be Rick James."

 _Then I kissed your lips and you turned on my fire, and you burned me up within your flame..._

Real Rick gave me a look that was non-negotiable and his act of turning the volume down spoke volumes.

"I think I prefer green smoothie to this, Mich."

"Now you tell me, Grimes?"

"This taste like paste with a hint of vanilla." He made smacking sound with his mouth after taking a second sip before placing his greasy meal in the cupholder. He was eyeing my chocolates.

"Like your favorite flavored ice cream?"

"Vanilla isn't my favorite anymore."

"Since when?"

"When was the last time I ordered, Vanilla anything?"

"Convenience store you got a Kit Kat."

"White Chocolate isn't vanilla."

"White fucking chocolate isn't Chocolate."

"What do you have against white?"

"What do you have against brown? There is Milk chocolate, Dark Chocolate, and levels of cocoa and sweetness. If you are serious about this endeavor, you will bring yourself over here into my box." I held my opened box up close to him for the aroma to carry.

"Nothing against brown, Mich. I think you know that. I have developed a taste for the Cocoa. I'm in love with the Coco (love with the Coco) I got it for the low low low…

 _Hit my plug, that's my cholo_  
 _He got it for the low, low_  
 _If you snitchin' I go loco (go crazy)_  
 _Hit you with that treinta ocho_  
 _If ya thinkin' that I'm solo_  
 _A 50 deep, I'm like, "oh, no"_  
 _I heard the feds takin' photos..._

"Nothin not the popo." I chimed with him surprised by his impromptu. "I did not ask you what song was playing in your head, Grimes."

"I know. Thought you would want to know that, 'I'm in love with the Coco..."

I had stuffed a piece of chocolate in his mouth to stop him from singing. It was the first time that he had ever sung a song and he was pretty good. He was able to carry a tune, but I was surprised by his rendition of a well-known drug tune.

"I've never heard that version."

"Ed Sheeran. You want me to add it to your playlist?"

"I will pass."

I watched him chew the deliciously sweet confection and swallow. The desire to suck his tongue was strong, and he wouldn't look away from me. His eyes lit up after a second staring directly into mine, where every nuance captured what was real or imagined. His lips were brighter than ever, recently moistened by his tongue moments ago by overlapping with his straw to only detest his vanilla protein smoothie. I wondered what it would feel like to kiss someone who had thin lips. How weird would it be? It had been years since I was kissed by anyone other than my husband and even he had tasted another.

My thought was a split second because I noticed he was slowly moving closer or was I? He was.

 _If this nut leans in and kiss me, I was prepared to kiss the fucks, what-ifs, I wonder, out of the atmosphere between us._

He cleared his throat and asked, "Why don't you want to do that song, Mich?"

 _Now he wanted to talk about song choice?_

"Because it sounds like we are in love with Cocaine or that you are really in love with me. Which is it, Grimes?"

We were stuck on something that we both were curious about in each other. We were making things more explicit in an around about way. We were fine tuning our communication.

"If you bring that box of chocolate on stage I think it would be clear I am in love with chocolate."

"In love?"

"Almost positive."

"Almost?"

"Certain."

"Really?"

"For sure."

"Crazy."

"In love?"

"Positive."

"100 percent?"

"Adds up."

"Really?" I could hear the surprise in his voice that removed a bit of the huskiness that was driving me wild.

I didn't respond. I was at a loss for words with my partner inching closer to me. I had never met anyone in my life that had my ovaries in overdrive. I wanted to spit out his babies for some unknown reason.

What type of woman would I need to be to feel nothing for him as we followed a straight line that led us further from the right, angled more left than centered. Can a person just fuck to fuck?

God, his blue eyes. He smelled so good to me, the scent of his aftershave was intoxicating as was watching him enjoy my chocolates.

Yes, I was in love with my partner. I had just admitted it to him, and my admission caused my heart to race out of control. He wasn't a hundred percent about how he felt even though he was almost positive. He began to refer to our falling in love with each other as the original Problem or the real beginning of such.

Problem 1. Karaoke.  
Problem 2. Front door dry humping  
Problem 3. Kissing on Couch  
Problem 4. Walmart Parking lot  
Problem 5. Honky Tonk Bar and Inn.  
Problem 6. The Play  
Problem 7. Church Parking Lot.  
Problem 8. Free Holiday INN

While we were sitting in the cruiser parked at our Smoothie Joint, my partner, and I, were about to kiss, but something from the universe was hell-bent on preventing it from finally happening. Grimes handed me his phone.

His cell phone. It was his son Carl wanting to talk to me about the best way to tackle a math problem. It wasn't a very complicated problem. A solution wasn't hard for Carl to find once I simplified it in various ways.

"My Dad says you are the smartest person he knows."

"Does that mean your Dad doesn't know many people?"

"Possible. He doesn't get out much, you know? Spends all of his time with you and home with us."

I smiled at Carl's attempt at a joke at his Dad's expense.

"Well, the job does consist of spending a lot of time together trying to catch the bad guys. When he is off duty, he is doing what a good Dad and husband does by spending time with you and your mom. I mean, he has a son at Genius level, and he loves your mom like crazy."

Maybe I was being petty by emphasizing the words or my fear took over. I was trying to give one more effort of deflecting or helping him to focus on his family and less on whatever we were doing. It was my attempt at throwing salt on his snail pace.

* * *

I had paid extra attention on my casual look going to the Lounge. Rick had arrived the same time I did, and he waited for me to walk the short distance where he stood. I could tell he was pleased with what he saw.

Inside, most of the department was having a good time. We were still outside trying to sort things out.

"What?"

"You look nice."

"I thought I needed more chocolate lip gloss." I joked.

"I have questions." His eyes peered into mine, locked.

"We've talked about it." I countered his obsession.

"I know. Would like to hear more about it with one more visual than going inside." He hinted, tipping his head towards the parking lot.

He always seemed to get itchy. I watched him scratch his temple with his index finger trying to fight the smile that threatened to take away his serious demeanor.

"I was starting to think you were serious."

I watched him shrug.

"When we are back to work, I am going to make it my business to search for some help for you. Fetishizing my lips is taking things too far, Grimes."

"A fetish?"

"Yes."

"Didn't we talk about taking our kids to a basketball game?" His question was his comeback to the disagreement we had hours ago.

I needed to know if he was legit interested in me or was this some type of bucket list curiosity bordering on a fetish.

He was winning the disagreement that reared its ugly head by dredging up a recent random conversation about if our sons would get along in general despite an age difference. We had tickets. Our real spouses would not be accompanying us on this outing that we convinced ourselves would be harmless with our children in attendance.

"I don't have a fetish. I just so happened to like the shape of your lips. Heart shaped."

"Remind me to send you a picture of my chocolate lips. It will last longer."

"Which one?"

"Which one what?"

His tone was weird. I realized we were possibly having two different conversations.

"I mean- No. Don't. I'm not sure what it means or what we are doing. I'm not trying to sexualize you, Mich. To send me a pic like that would make things extra awkward."

"Which lips are we talking about?"

"Uh."

I knew where his mind was.

"What kind of crazy train do you think I'm riding on to send you a pic of that? I much rather take you around this building and drop our jeans and enjoy a game of showing me yours, and I'll show you mine. Are we going inside or are you going to keep checking me out?"

Inside of the Karaoke Bar and Lounge, we had a great time. He was leaning in closer than ever, and I didn't put space adequate for us to help with giving the appearance of friends being friendly. We were more like friends that were inadvertently giving off possible fuck buddies. Anything else was further from the truth. I couldn't wait to fuck this buddy if given a chance. I was 90% sure it was the same for him too.

* * *

My eyes were on his hands that handled the steering wheel while he concentrated on the open road ahead. Those hands of his were always gentle, persuading, firm, protective.

I always knew when he was most relaxed, his tone had a playful quality. Rick didn't believe me when I told him he had a heavier southern accent when he was happy about something.

"Is that where you keep your list?"

"Folded in my journal. Yes."

"What do you write about?"

"My thoughts. How I feel about things."

"How do you feel about this RV?"

"You did a great job. This is perfect. I like that the bathroom is way in the back and our bed is a Murphy bed."

"I like that."

"Which one?"

"Our."

"We are really going to do this?" I had asked him.

"You choose now to question this? I have no doubts about us, Mich. I have no doubts about wanting to be with you in this RV. I am all in when it comes down to the number of miles we are about to put between this town to enjoy our random travels. It is all I want for right now."

"I can imagine what you are going to want later."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Ummm...What you have in mind?"

"I could drop to my knees."

He really thought I was going to go on my knees while he was driving. He tensed up quickly. He gripped the steering wheel as if someone was trying to pry his fingers from it.

"Michonne...the last time..."

I had him in overdrive. He just can't multitask nor speak coherent sentences. I knew blowjobs were very important to him. It was a significant weakness of his. This information I had for awhile. This man will remain putty in my hands as long as I kept a good supply of lipgloss and a willingness to keep guessing at how many licks it takes to get to the center of his lollipop.

"Yes, Rick?"

"I want...I much prefer that we are parked when you do it."

He had just gotten out of the shower at the inn. I knew he wasn't expecting it. I didn't plan to blow him. Things were getting weird between us because he wanted to spend time together later that night. He had tickets to a play. We didn't plan to go to the Honkey Tonk Bar and Inn the night before. He had plans for us that I wasn't aware of until that morning while we shared breakfast in bed. He was pissed.

"I'm disappointed."

"We should have some type of gap. Anything else would look like we are dating. We aren't dating, Rick. We are married. You have a wife. I have a husband. We have to create space in between this and any other event. Not counting work."

"Will there be another time?"

"No. We are going to try harder than ever to never repeat this."

He placed his Styrofoam container on the nightstand and got out of the bed. He abruptly grabbed his clothes off the small salmon colored couch and didn't say another word shutting the door to the bathroom.

At first, it didn't bother me. I went back to eating while he showered. This was my time to reflect on the last few hours that we've spent together. The only thing that I focused on was the crumpled sheet on his side and his shirt that I wore he was going to need.

I took his blue shirt off. I was completely naked standing in front of the closed door to the bathroom when it suddenly opened with him ready to step out with a white towel wrapped around his waist. His skin still damp and the scent of hotel soap wafted the air.

We were standing face to face. Rick was trying to avoid eye contact. Diverting his eyes to the shirt that was in my hands. He _was_ upset.

"Do you want to talk about it, Rick?"

"I just want my shirt, Mich."

"Is that all you want?"

"Stop fucking around, Mich. I need my shirt."

He was cold. It was like a light switch had flipped, and I didn't like it. He didn't react to my kiss on his lips nor the bite on his jaw. He didn't step away from me either. The only reaction that I got was when I dropped to my knees.

We ended up spending another hour all over each other.

He destroyed my Kat. He made my Chocolate Kitty, his, and I was in complete denial thinking my pussy will ever obey anyone else.

"Don't move."

"Why not?"

"I want to see you."

"Okay."

"You are so beautiful."

"Kat says thank you, sir."

"Smells nice."

"My Kat is high maintenance."

"It's so beautiful."

"Kat is wondering if you are going to take a taste. She's not going to hover for much longer. Rick. What the fuck are you doing?"

"This has to be the most beautiful black pussy I have ever seen." He blew air that felt cool in comparison.

"How many have you been privileged to have over your face, Grimes?"

"Do you know how long I wanted to be right here? Do you know how much porn I had to watch, and still nothing compares to this Kat?"

He had finally began massaging my clit. His tongue was diving deep hitting my spot, that had my purr on. Soon he sped up and in no time I was roaring wild and loud.

"Oh my god, you squirted. I have to fuck you...Oh my god I have to fuck you, Michonne. Yes."

He sucked every morsel out of my pussy while I held on to the condom.

His tongue. His head game was exceptional his dick was another story. I was dicktamatized.

* * *

"Oh boy. Okay. Watch out ladies and gents." The camera began to pan in and out as Rick made his approach from the back of the RV that our viewers had christened, Ricks Vagina. It happened after a few live podcasts of our adventures and that regretful day that Rick allowed himself to be interviewed by Shane which included the story of how the RV never left Andrea's driveway.

"My friend who goes by the name RG stays locked in that Pussy. I suggest we call this RV, Rick's Vagina."

Yeah. That was a mess. Still can't stand Shane. Rick's silliness took things too far, but it was catchy. The beginning of our Podcast consisted of Rick walking from the back of the RV to the front licking his lips the way he would lap up and down my clit. He has become incorrigible.

I had to take away his filming privileges on two occasions upon viewing what he had released to the world, my fear of the water and the comment, "Nah. I have someone that licks me clean."

xxx

"Hi."

"We've been doing a lot of this lately." I mused after a few seconds of silence between us. I couldn't help the smile that was plastered on my face.

"Yeah. I prefer it this way."

"Really?"

"No misunderstandings when we are in constant contact with each other. I didn't like when you shut me out. When you are ready, I want you to tell me everything, Mich."

"From the mouth to ear kind of thing?"

"My mouth to your ear, Mich."

"Why does that sound naughty." I giggled.

"Because you think like that."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Naughty means bad, Mich."

"What other corrections will you make towards my bad behavior?

He was silent. I knew he was most likely wearing a smile as was I.

"You have no idea how much I missed you. Missed being with you almost every day. All day."

I knew he was referring to our working relationship that we both resigned from just minutes apart, a couple of days ago. Rick went first and I followed behind inside of Herschel's office.

"It's your lucky day, sir. I am available. Highly trained and qualified." I offered myself to Rick.

"I would agree. I feel lucky. Hope to get lucky somewhere down the road with you. It's been a while. Plan to wear your ass out."

"Oooh. You've got the right one, baby. Can't wait for this highly entertaining cardio."

"Got this sweet tooth, you know what I mean?"

"Well, hurry up sugar. Coffee waiting."

"What?"

"We are going to have to practice role play. I mean, you need to stay in character."

"I am sweet tooth. I can't be sugar too."

"Well I am coffee. Black coffee."

"Sweet coffee, I want to pour my cream into you."

"Oh, my God. Where are you, Sweet tooth?"

"I'm turning on to the street now." He was laughing hysterically. His amusement caused me to stifle a giggle.

I finally was able to see him. I mean I saw it-the RV. I couldn't believe my eyes. I hung up without a goodbye or a word that I was doing so.

I had my bucket list in one hand and the duffle bags in the other standing outside waiting in Andrea's driveway for Rick's arrival.

Right then I felt the most alive I have ever remembered. Rick slowed the RV, wearing a surprised look to see me standing there, outside, visibly anxious.

Once he stepped out, we were lip locked the moment he had reached for the two duffle bags. What was supposed to have been a quick smooch had us both pressed into each other. A hour later we were both dazed, panting after the best fuck of our lives. It happened on the floor between the sink and the small dining table. We didn't even get out of the driveway. We were way into the next day when Shane and Andrea kept banging on the door because they were blocked in, unable to get out.

We had fallen into a deep sleep sprawled out across the full-size bed with his hand on my ass and mine on his chest. This sex between us was on a ridiculous level. The rate we were going it would take two years to make it to Alaska. The way he had me pressed up against him in the tiny shower without penetrating, just gliding against the bun was such a fucking turn on to see the bright pink head appear and disappear...I was no longer able to maintain a one woman band when this caused an operatic symphony. I had to give into the wings of Angels.

"I smell fucking."

Rick stepped outside pulling his shirt from over his head and down his body. I was grateful that he was buying me time to get dressed while he dealt with Shane. Andrea was tapping on the windows until I peeked out from the blinds. She gave me a look and I gave her one right back.

"Could you not? For once, Shane."

"I hate to break the news to you but this drive way is not an RV park. Your fucking road to leisure is that way."

"Alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

* * *

"We are here, Michonne. If it is enough for you, it is enough for me."

The last life saving apparatus that I had strapped to my body I threw and it whizzed past his head.

I was coming down from a full on panic attack. The water was crystal clear and slow moving.

The videos that I have watched on many occasions showed the fast moving river where the water appears frothy, foamy, white, this was an illusion, I told myself. My mind could not be convinced by the sweet lull once I had myself whipped up to level 100. Rick was filming until I was at level 50. He did allow me some dignity and privacy by turning the camera that continued to record our conversation while it filmed the waters edge that captured other families and even children happily proceeding on their white-water rafting adventure. We were left behind.

Yes, I got out of the raft in thigh deep water. I couldn't go any farther.

"You can leave now."

"To go where?"

"I don't know. I don't care."

"You don't care?"

I cared. I cared about a lot of things and he was on top of my list with Andre if I were carrying around an ' _I Care About_ ' list. I cared. I just didn't know why I said it. I had no answer for it nor the explanation that he waited for in order to remove it from the atmosphere.

"I have some reservations too, Mich."

I shot him a look. It was something that I hadn't considered since he made his break from his marriage. I knew that he took those vows seriously and he was tormented for a long time about breaking them.

"This pains me to see you this way. The fear you have inside about this. What it's like to believe that there is no one willing to save you, when I am standing right here. I'm here, Mich."

For some reason we had tons of request for the reshowing of this event and Rick's retelling. I had to leave the RV or the area in general. Something about re-watching or the retelling made my chest tight.

"This will be my last time..."

I was surprised by this. I'd halted from making my exit.

"...It has been two years since we've started this adventure. I've learned many things from one mile to the next and in every town we have visited before making it here to Alaska. I have climbed several hills with this woman and I have followed her out of thigh deep water. She is my favorite person. She is the person that I love more than anything. She has entrusted me enough with her fear of the water that it is only right to not dwell on it when we have gone past it. Believe me when I tell you she is much stronger than anyone can imagine. She's a warrior and I am lucky to have her as my wife. I want to end the water fear request on that note."

I still couldn't belief that I had met someone who completed me in every way. My better half. He was my mirror that reflected back more of what I needed to see within myself. I wanted to live in this haphazard love affair. I didn't realize that if we were going to drown on that day it would have essentially been us succumbing to that good feeling when it came to loving someone that wanted to be loved by the other. Little did Rick know I'd planned to love the hell out of him and his baby that I was carrying. He'd thought it was weight gain.

Rick was pleased that I remained for the rest of the podcast. He read the last question:

"We have a bet going that you are pregnant. I'm guessing three or..." Rick trailed off. He noticed the smile on my face that broaden after the surprise squeal I made.

"Michonne."

"Yes."

"Why did you let me think you gained weight?"

"It was the only thing you were entertaining."

"You didn't suggest anything else."

"It was a country song, Rick."

"From a group I had never heard of."

"Your musical taste has certainly changed."

"I'd asked you what song was playing in your head."

 _One means nothing and we're home free_  
 _Two means three and a diamond ring_  
 _Yeah, wonder what faith is gonna decide_  
 _We're just sitting around waiting on two pink lines_

 _Eric Church_

"That was the song that was playing in my head, dear love."

He was quiet. He was thinking hard about how to respond as I waited.

"I just heard diamond ring, Michonne. I wanted to marry you. I thought that was what you were alluding since this world isn't safe anymore for children."

"The safest spot is where we are now up here in Alaska." I informed him.

We had made it to the safest refuge in the world other than Antarctica.

"Pink lines?" I'd emphasized what went over his head weeks ago.

"Damn you, Michonne."

"What?"

"End of Podcast." He flipped the switch, control alt delete, shut down. We didn't realize that was the last day of any Wifi signal to the outside world. Communication was going back to prehistoric levels.

"What's up?"

"Take your damn clothes off woman and assume the position."

I slowly did as told, moving to the middle of the RV while he closed the window blinds for the front of the windshield and locked the doors.

I stood nude before him. He slowly fell to his knees and kissed my belly button, which in a short few months would protrude. There was something that I took note of about this man who firmly held on to my ass as he spoke to my pelvis area.

"Hello. Hello. Hello, egg, fertilized with my sperm. How far are we, Michonne?" He looks up at me after his greeting to our unborn child.

"Past what you are describing. It's a baby. Heart beat. Flutter."

"Hi, little one." He began again. "We are in a world that is different for us but will be normal for you. By the time you arrive you will be greeted by two brothers that are here with us in this fine commune. Your oldest brother is Carl and then you have another brother name Andre that has you beat by several years. I am okay with another son if you happen to be a boy. I will admit that I am praying for a daughter. I have a name picked out come to think of it."

"Is that so?"

"I was thinking, Judith."

"Abigail."

"Your mother wants your name to be Abigail but not without a vote. I think you would prefer Judith Abigail Grimes as a compromise. Your mother is smiling. I think we may have settled things here and we will wait for your safe arrival in the months to come."

He took his tongue and lapped up the area that had my eyes go heavy and my mouth to let out a purr. He knew he had my full attention when he stood up and began undressing himself.

"Sometimes you have to speak plain. I want us to practice doing that." He spoke huskily in my ear.

"Okay."

"Okay what?"

"Okay, baby."

"I'm going to give it to you real slow, Michonne. You are not going to rush me."

"Okay Baby. You can give it to me slow."

"I mean it, Michonne. Our boys are GONE for another hour."

"Rick, it's not how the multi colored penis works." I had whispered in his ear, nipping on his lobe.

He bit down on my shoulder.

"Mmm. I don't understand why you don't understand that." The pressure he applied by biting felt good. He was pinching my nipples, releasing the pressure with a gentle massage to fool my body's instant reaction to delicious pain before pleasure.

"I understand. I just want to use it for awhile and watch it change colors is all."

"You keep it up my kitty is going to be too sensitive and it will start purring and meowing. I need you to give it to me when I tell you because if you don't-Hiss."

"Yeah. The hiss. I want to work the Kat up to all claws out, causing a spitting foamy hiss."

This was the kind of talk that turned him on and kept him completely engaged in sex. We loved having sex with each other.

Our Sons were on the outside of the RV, completely confused but smart enough to come back in a hour like their Dad had instructed loud enough for them to hear from the open window we forgot to shut.

Us being together was as clear as the blue skies on a beautiful breezy day. The kind of days where it is the most perfect when lounging in a hammock or cuddled up in bed with the windows open, lying in each other's arms.

* * *

 **FOX HOLE** :

Holiday Inn Ambulance...The person Rick Shot was infected.

Trauma has a way of wiping a person's mind of common sense. I had blood in my hair. Blood from an infected individual. I couldn't formulate words to explain to Rick what I was going through without revealing details about why I was really there. Why we were all there. My dreads were soiled and I thought I was in the last hours of life. I kissed him back and I didn't care who saw or who knew about us. I thought I was dying anyway. It didn't take much convincing from Noah when he offered me something he had cooking in his lab. I really thought I was dying. Now that I know what Noah gave me is the truth and then some, I think I would have still cut my dreads off anyway. I can always begin again if I so choose. I think the cut of my hair is more suitable now that I am a fighting Machine as witnessed by the people closest to me. It felt great to know I wasn't alone after awhile.

I knew the safest place would be Alaska or Antarctica. The beauty of Montana wasn't lessened by what Canada had in store nor by the magnificence of Alaska where I was reduced to a steady stream of tears by inhaling the air, fisting the snow, and trapezing through the wooded areas taking snapshots of the tall Mountains that begged to be climbed by me. But...Sigh.

Rick rested his chin on the top of my head holding me from behind. He had two inches or more over me by standing on the log when he had whispered, "I love you more than life. Thank you for allowing me to share this with you." He handed me my can of bear mace. He kept his handy dandy colt at the ready.

I wondered for a moment if he was referencing the time a few weeks back where he considered going guns blazing when the Border Agents came inside our RV. I didn't know he had his own gun stored under his seat.

Crossing the US Border into Canada may have caused a mini stroke in Rick when the Border Agents confiscated hand guns inside one of my duffle bags. I was escorted off and Rick sat sweating bullets in the driver seat of the RV.

Twenty minutes later I was escorted back by Jesus and Aaron both carrying two duffle bags more than they had taken out of the RV. I had assault rifles, ammunition and a Colt in exchange for all that I had given them.

"What the hell, Mich?" Rick asked after he got a wink and an air kiss from Aaron.

My response was a shrug.

"Isn't he-."

"He who?"

"Him."

"Him?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, what?"

"Isn't that him? The guy."

"I don't know. I just met him."

"I'm not talking about him. The other one."

"Who?"

"You know what, Mich. I will wait for you to tell me. I'm going to want to know everything. E.V.E.R.Y. thing."

"After I drop to my knees or before?"

He gave me a long look before increasing the speed that would get us somewhere quickly, namely away from the border Agents. His leg became jittery and he strummed the steering wheel nervously.

"I hate that you know my weakness." He remarked a full minute later.

"Next town is in twenty miles."

"Looking for an adequate place to boondock for a while before we continue through, Canada."

 _Mmhm._

* * *

Took us a very long time to get to Alaska at the rate we were going. When we arrived we had obstacle courses set up in every direction. Hurdles at every corner. The corners we turn, we continued to turn together.

"Home. It will be finished in another week. We can move out of this and officially move in. If we ever need privacy for the symphonic choir band we can always come in here. We will keep it parked right outside. Safe enough distance to not worry the children."

We were still having very good sex even if it was less frequent. Rick was volunteering more than ever participating in runs and scavenge for things we were going to need. I stayed behind and made myself useful around our slowly growing community. People from our past found themselves fleeing to where we were, for safety and a few RVers were welcomed to join us while the rest of the world went to shit in the more populated areas.

Carl and Andre proved themselves very useful and beamed with pride as our eighth, three man Look-out Tower stood sturdy and tall, 20 feet from the man made wall that took a year and a half to create around our 15 mile long and wide perimeter. What we couldn't fence was booby trapped to the Gods and to hell those walkers would flounder.

When the gates opened I ran to greet him. Andre and Carl were already there. They were excited by the arrival as was everyone in the community that were mostly relieved that we didn't lose anyone that volunteered to go out and scavenge useful items. A Pasta Maker for example. Yeah. We needed to shut her up quick and it was number one on most everyone list that went out and came back a month later.

We finally had a moment to ourselves as he kept me blindfolded and talked and talked and talked until he revealed what he worked so hard on.

"I made sure to create a large fireplace to heat the whole house like you said. We scavenged a tub and a few other things. Got us as close to the River as possible. Bins to store water and ….

Fortunately, **NO FOXHOLE!**

 **The End**


End file.
